Bloody Maelstrom: Redux
by Hector Enix
Summary: In a moment of desperation, Naruto is tested by the King of Hell, Blood Hounduar. Afterwards, he is resurrected as the Warrior-Priest of Blood, tasked with spreading the faith and eliminating the pseudo-demons that populate the world. Oh what fun...
1. Trial of Blood

Welcome to the Gates of Hell, my most freaky and faithful of Darlings!

**Read this, or you're going to be a bit lost. By a bit lost, I mean if I get a review asking about something I answered, I am sending the most annoying demons I can find to steal your left sock, right shoe, and all forks in the house.**

I came to a conclusion with Naruto, The Bloody Maelstrom... I can't write it any more, because I wrote it alongside my dear brother Phantom. It was our little bastard-love-child, and Blood was a personification of his own inner sadism and humor. Because of that, I honestly didn't think I could constantly recreate the mind of an indescribable man for every scene with Blood.

I can, however, do something very interesting in it's place. I've finally matured mentally to the point of understanding Blood. His actions are only for the sake of entertainment. He doesn't spread chaos for the sake of spreading chaos, he doesn't kill just to kill, he doesn't fight for the sake of fighting; he does it to entertain himself. So, why would Blood honestly need Naruto as a mortal vessel? He wouldn't. There is, however, one little cosmic loophole that Blood would like to exploit. I won't ruin it here though. That would be bad.

In terms of differences between Bloody Maelstrom and the Redux... well, let's list the two big ones: Naruto, and the world around him. Yeah, that pretty much covers EVERYTHING in the bloody story. Now, I won't give any spoilers, but let me say it in a more general way:

People have more legit reactions and personalities.

Naruto has his own character sheet. I'm going to use it to actually level him up and track his progress. His class is admittedly homestyle, but it's more for reference than anything. His species... is also different. Why? Because Blood... well, you'll see.

Enough of that long-winded bullshit! Let the redux begin!

* * *

><p>]_'}0{\'_[

Naruto was decently sure he had an evil twin somewhere that he was catching the Karmic backlash for; at this point, he had no better explanation for his situation.

Being attacked by a Sannin in disguise in the Forest of Death: Unlikely, but he supposed that it wasn't overly far-fetched. He wasn't too dense, and though he didn't know what that ninja's hickey did to Sasuke, he knew that the Sharingan were valuable and the dark chakra that Sasuke was putting out, coming from that mark, felt a bit too much like the snake-man's for comfort.

Being attacked by three Oto genin claiming to be sent by Orochimaru to kill them. Again, unlikely, but he still figured that worse things had happened to him.

Having a second Oto team show up a few minutes later that was just as strong as the last group –that is to say, stronger than team 7 –was a bit too much for even Naruto to believe to be simple coincidence or bad luck. There was a deity somewhere, and he or she was having a ball tormenting the young boy.

"_Might just be catching the Karma of the Kyuubi."_, he thought to himself, watching Sasuke get thrown back into Sakura, a few feet to his left. _"Which means I'm going to die here. Painfully."_

He had always thought that he was going to die a hero and a Hokage; perhaps he had merely convinced himself of that. A cry of pain tore itself from his throat as a kunai lodged itself into his thigh, penetrating bone. _"Yeah; gonna die. So much for that Hero bullshit; I guess I've been fooling myself the entire time. I'm weak, and now I'm going to die."_

_**Yet Power lurks in your body and soul,**_

_**more than enough to preserve thine goal.**_

_**Yet here you stand, you hesitate,**_

_**Now tell me boy, why do you wait?**_

The voice sent a jolt of terror down Naruto's spine, but he realized a moment later that the jolt hadn't actually resulted in movement. In fact, nothing did; moments later he realized the nothing in the clearing was moving. The leaves themselves were frozen in midair.

_**Speak Child; you stand to die**_

_**I ask a single question: Why?**_

_**Not answering is Ill-advised,**_

_**lest you desire the end Death devised**_

The voice pierced through the petrified world with the sharpness of an executioner's axe and the force of a wildfire. Then, creeping forth with the predatory purpose of a nightmare, the darkness of the forest seeped forth in a choking blanket. Heavy footfalls shook the ground and writhing shadows, each beat bringing a red glow from the heart of the darkness beyond the trees.

"_Wh-what the hell?", _the words rang through Naruto's head, unable to escape his frozen mouth. His lungs screamed for oxygen while something in his core screamed for him to run.

_**Good Guess.**_

It had to be at least eight feet tall; broad in the shoulders and body rippling with muscle hidden under crimson fur. It's torso was bare, displaying several scars where fur no longer grew; everything below the waist was covered in some sort of heavy metal armor—not quite a samurai's, but similar. On it's shoulder was a metal band covered in runes, and a similar one rest on it's wrist with hundreds of chains connecting the two. Naruto paled as it neared, starting to see things he had hoped were tricks of the twilight.

The bands looked to be grafted into the being's flesh, but it's head drew his eyes from that—they seemed to be the only thing he could move. The mouth was too broad to be a wolf's, but it was definitely a canine head, though the long, sweeping black horns added only further horror to the image.. Alabaster fangs gleamed in the crimson twilight while red eyes—more akin to pools of blood and fire than the word red could ever come—stared at Naruto, burning into his soul and judging him.

_**For the sake of not making you lose any more sanity on the spot, I'll skip the usual rhyming routine; it was getting boring anyway. **_The beast said, adding the last bit in an offhanded tone.

Naruto wasn't entirely sure this wasn't some sort of premortem hallucination, though he wasn't entirely sure it wasn't a postmortem mindfuck given to him by the deity he was contemplating a few minutes earlier.

_**No, I'm quite real; much like your impending doom, as it happens. I don't envy you, not one bit. The one in bandages intends to corpsefuck you, you see. **_The beast snapped it's clawed fingers, causing Naruto to almost fall with the sudden return of his ability to move.

"Wh-...What are you?", was all he could manage to get out. The monster before him was something far worse than the hateful bijou that had been baiting him from a young age.

_**Who. Calling someone a what is just rude. **_The beast replied, chuckling. Naruto noticed that, despite the dialog, the beast's mouth didn't move. _**Yes, I'm telepathic, and you need to learn how to think at a lower volume. Moving forward, before this gets boring, my name is Blood. Preferably Lord Blood. I'm the King of Hell, so I deserve that much at least. If not, I'll just kill anyone who disagrees.**_

_**No need to get so tense; I'm here to make a deal, not to kill you. **_Blood said with a chuckle, seeing the young human tense at his words. _**I'll keep this simple, since you seem to be busy with the whole about-to-die-and-get-corpsefucked thing. Basically, I'm bored as hell, and I couldn't help but notice that your world is ripe for a little... hell...**_

_**There's only one issue: I took a little vow when I became a God of Death not to directly interfere with a world. Luckily, there's a little loophole: as both a deity and the King of hell, I can skip around that little vow if I have enough followers in a given world. Due to how young your world is it's barely connected to hell, let alone established enough with all the planes to know of me. Of course, I could always just open up the gates of hell and step into your world, razing everything to the ground, but that got old after three worlds. Having followers tends to be more entertaining anyway.**_

"You're... saving my life for your own amusement?"

_**I didn't say anything about saving your life. I'm just going to give you a little test; if you pass, the enemies will be dead. If you get corpsefucked, you fail and I find the next fuck to test. Quite frankly, you're the fifth fucker I've tested in the last twenty four hours.**_

"...This is a hallucination.", Naruto said, facepalming in hopes of waking himself up.

_**If it's just a figment of your imagination, what's stopping you from trying? **_

There was a fair amount of truth in Blood's statement. If it was a hallucination, there was little reason to refuse.

"What happens if I pass this test?", Naruto asked, wanting a plan in case this wasn't some sort of dream. Blood smiled, revealing even more of his alabaster fangs.

_**You'll gain my blessing; which one, however, I don't know. I like to roll dice when handing out blessings-It keeps things more interesting, you see.**_

"Right... and how do I pass?". The question brought an edge of seriousness to Blood's bemused expression.

_**There's a very powerful spell that is available to those who embrace chaos; unsurprisingly, it's known as Chaos Hammer. Normally, it's only really effective against those who follow a strict moral and social code with a great deal of discipline; someone of a lawful disposition, if you will. True Chaos, however, has the capacity to disrupt anything, including itself. The ninja you are fighting are of mixed codes; you only have enough strength for one chaos hammer, so you had best make it count. Or you can just die and get corpsefucked, but I don't think you particularly want that.**_

"...And how do I do this fabled Chaos Hammer?", Naruto asked skeptically. He was starting to think this wasn't a dream or a hallucination though; he simply wasn't this creative.

_**Don't ask me; the way I do it would blow your little head off. **_Blood replied, cleaning his nails, **_I'd say aim your arm at them, focus a lot of conflicting emotions in their general direction, and then shout "chaos hammer" at the top of your lungs._**

"Is the shouting really necessary? I think one of my lungs was punctured to be hon-"

_**I'm the King of Hell, thank you. I know what I'm talking about. Now, you have ten seconds to get ready. Try not to get corpsefucked.**_

Naruto turned to face the Oto nin, realizing a moment later that he still had a kunai in his leg. Needless to say, he swore and dropped down to a knee.

About two seconds later—which was definitely not the ten he had been told—the world started moving again; Naruto looked up to see the Oto nins getting ready to finish the fight, various weapons at the ready. All of Blood's passing comments about being corpsefucked came to mind in a rather disturbing moment for the blond. In a moment of inspiration, he thrust his arm towards the Oto ninja with two words on his mind.

"CHAOS HAMMER!", he shouted, putting a lot into the gesture. He wasn't entirely sure what happened, but there was a fairly painful impact that preceded the world going black.

]_'/}0{\'_[

"What... the hell... hit me?", Naruto asked, throat feeling dry. He forced himself to sit up, finding that even his eyelids were fighting his attempts to move. When they finally opened, Naruto had to fight the urge to vomit.

Body parts and guts littered the clearing, staining the ground and hanging from branches. Scorch marks, ruts in the ground, and frost radiated out from a small crater that looked to be roughly where the oto ninja had been standing. Apparently the Chaos Hammer had worked.

It was a terrifying thought, Naruto realized; it was by his own hand that this carnage had happened. He had killed several people with two words given to him be some terrible, eldritch beast.

The urge overtook him; leaning to the side, Naruto lost the contents of his stomach, retching even further once there was nothing left.

_**Not bad for your first Chaos Hammer. It's a pity you missed one.**_

Blood's voice cut into Naruto's mind like a spike of flaming ice, if such a description was possible. Naruto forced himself to look up, hoping the monster's shadows would hide the carnage. Nothing had changed though; it was still a horrific scene, and no shadows moved to hide it in crimson twilight.

_**I'm talking to you from Hell; I don't need to manifest now that you've completed my little test. **_

"But... I... you said...", Naruto was scrambling to piece together a reason for him to not have passed the test; anything to keep the beast out of his mind. "Y-you said I missed one! I failed!"

_**You passed because you didn't fail. If you recall, I said you only failed if you got corpsefucked. The fact you only had enough strength for a single Chaos Hammer and only had one shot, the blast of which knocked you out, by the way, was of little importance. The one disabled everyone, including your allies, so you passed.**_

Allies.

Naruto began frantically looking around the clearing, searching for some sign that Sasuke and Sakura hadn't been blown to pieces by the Chaos Hammer. There was some amount of relief when he finally saw them intact several meters away, though he felt his heart drop when he saw the state Sasuke was in.

The blast had apparently blow him into Sakura, knocking her out and shielding her from the majority of the blast. For the unintentional chivalry however, Sasuke had burns on multiple parts of his body; most notably was the seared flesh where his eyes were. It was gruesome sight, but they were both breathing. There was someone in between the Naruto and his teammates, who was also breathing, though far from unscathed.

It was the girl with the long brown hair; the one who had grabbed Sakura by the hair. Her clothing had been burned and singed, though enough remained to be called decent, and most of her hair was fine, though there were a couple spots where a few inches had been burnt off. For the most part, her injuries were light and were confined to her right side, though there was a single exception that made Naruto almost retch again:

Her right arm, about halfway down the bicep, had been torn off by the explosion. The only reason she hadn't bled out was the fact that the blast had also seared the wound shut, though there were still burns and ragged strips of flesh hanging off her arm.

_**The ninja you aspired to be would have done far worse.**_

"NO! The Hokage-"

_**You aspire to be the leader of assassins and murderers; those who delight in causing undo suffering for the right amount of coin, and then profiting from the revenge as well.**_

"How is this any different?", Naruto shouted, trying to stand up. The kunai in his leg made it hard, but he managed to make it a few feet before falling to his knees.

_**This is the gateway to something far greater. I may only be interested in my own entertainment, but I do not condone the slaughter of the innocent. I am the King of Hell, the one who torments the sinful and spiteful for their crimes. You, Naruto Uzumaki, have displayed enough talent to be both entertaining and useful. Become my champion, and you can have your fill of heroism against the truly wicked.**_

"And what? Tear people to shreds with words?", he shouted, fingernails digging into the ground. The smell of burnt flesh was heavy in the air.

_**And so much more. **_

Naruto tried to block out Blood's words, covering his ears and gnashing his teeth.

_**Why are you so upset? You save you friends, and the girl in front of you has the scroll you need. Beyond that, power beyond imagination is beckoning you.**_

"I don't care about power! I almost killed my friends, and I blew up people I didn't even know! To hell with power!"

_**Might makes right. Without power, you will never be able to protect anything, let alone yourself. Besides, the gears are already in motion, little mortal.**_

There was a powerful, foreboding tone to the beast's words.

"What...?"

_**Your world is torn by war; it always has been and always will be. Hatred and pain fill the air and taint the earth; demons are being born outside of hell, and are wreaking havoc on mortals across the land. That is something I cannot allow; all demons must answer to me. Failure to do so is to invite my wrath... which is currently a job opening I'm offering to you. **_

"You... want me to be a demon...slayer?"

_**I want you to take my blessing and become my champion; go forth and spread my symbol. It's a declaration of war to those who would dare to oppose me, and an offer of power to those who would follow me. You, mortal, would be my high priest and champion. Call yourself a demonslayer if you wish, but know that the hearts of mortals hold darkness that is far blacker than the most vile desire of a demon.**_

Gruesome images and hard facts whirled around Naruto's mind, causing him to clutch his head and grind his teeth even harder. Then, in a moment of anger, he threw his head back and screamed, letting out his frustration and hatred in one primal surge.

_**Your humanity is what is stopping you, you know. My blessing will kill you, then resurrect you in a blaze of glory; from the ashes of your humanity you shall rise as a higher being. All you have to do is pledge your loyalty to me. Do that, and the power to protect that which you hold dear will be yours.**_

That was it. A chink in any remaining armor that Naruto had clung too.

He was _weak_, and would never be able to protect anything; his attempts only caused more harm than good. Blood, however...

"I pledge... my loyalty... to Lord Blood."

]_'/}0{\'_[

* * *

><p>And there's what I would call the prologue. I've decided to get the first actual "chapter" done before posting this, so be grateful. Also, don't expect the 40 page chapters I used to do; I'll be doing 15-20 page chapters, as they're more manageable(Read: Easier to proofread and a little less stressful when I fall behind in writing)<p>

Ja Ne, My most Freaky of Darlings. I suppose I'll see you again in a few seconds.


	2. Conquerer of the Night

I told you so. See how insatiable you little Darlings are?

For those of you who don't have a bloody clue as to what's happening... go read the AN at the end of the prologue. Yeah, you, the little bugger who didn't read it.

Here's chapter one!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or D&D. Blood Hounduar is a creation that I own(in part), and this work of fiction is mine as well. Any Ocs that appear are mine unless otherwise noted.

* * *

><p>]_'}0{\'_[

The only reason they were at the tower right now was due to the fact the most skilled medical ninja were stationed there for this very reason: Serious injury sustained in the forest.

Naruto recognized the fact that Sasuke also played a major role in their presence; when he opened a scroll to get the attention of the proctors, they immediately rushed his team to the tower, informing him of their disqualification on the way. They had brought the brown-haired girl as well, and Naruto found it somewhat ironic that they were in the same recovery room. Sakura was off in one of the other rooms, resting—the impact had broken several ribs, despite Sasuke taking the brunt of the explosion—while Sasuke was in the Intensive Care Unit. Naruto hadn't seen either of them since they arrived.

To be truthful, he had expected the poor treatment he received; they had jerked the kunai from his leg and bandaged it, skipping the medical jutsu entirely; pretty much every other injury was bandaged as well, but nothing more.

Naruto had seen what they had done for the girl though, healing her burns and cleaning up the stump where her arm once was. The skin was pink and more than likely fragile, but now it looked like it had been healing for a time with flesh covering the end of the stump instead of looking like a ragged, horrific wound. It still wouldn't be a good way to wake up though, seeing your arm missing from the middle of your bicep.

_**It's time, mortal. Are you ready to don the mantle of my champion?**_

"Yeah... let's get this over with. What are you doing to me?", Naruto asked, detached. His eyelids felt heavy, and the room seemed to be getting darker.

_**Killing you, then resurrecting you in a form that has more... potential. This process will give you a clean slate, so to speak; all sins and success will be null and void. Even the Kyuubi will be stripped from you.**_

"What... are you turning me into...?"

_**That's what I have dice for, my young champion. Let's see what they have in store for you.**_

As the room faded to black, Naruto swore he heard something clattering against some hard surface. Then, he felt amazingly free; like all the burdens and pain he had suffered were removed from both his body and his mind. It was like floating, but without water.

_**Three, Twenty-Seven, Forty-Eight, Six. Oh goody, this **_**will****_ be fun._**

Being reborn was the most awkward feeling sensation that Naruto had ever endured; almost like being encased in some sort of gelatin that left skin behind when it fell away. Flaming gelatin, as it happened, and made with acid instead of water.

_**You're ending up with almost the same species as myself, though your traits are toned down compared to mine; you would explode otherwise. **_Blood remarked, answering Naruto's unasked question a moment later, **_The first die was how many species I'd throw into the mix; the next three were what species. Hound Archon, Green Dragon, and Incubus._** _**For the sake of not having you explode, I've halved the influence of the dragon; the archonic blood is far more stable, and their physical form is something you're used to, so you're receiving it in full. The Incubus blood, though more volatile than the archonic blood, balances it out and will keep your form from horribly mutating one way or another. Think of the dragonic bit as the stand on which the "holy" Archon and "unholy" Incubus balance each other out.**_

The end of his sentence marked the end of the rebirth. He stood beside the bed where his body now laid lifeless, staring down at the empty cerulean eyes and wondering how he had survived in such a small and frail body. He reached down and closed the eyes of the man on the bed, reminding himself that Naruto Uzumaki had lived to be nineteen and had, in essence, died for the sake of protecting what he had held dear.

_**Good to know you aren't all that attached to the name "Naruto". I'll let you figure out your own name later... and you can thank me for the pants. Most people are reborn naked.**_

He looked down to see he was indeed wearing pants—black hakama to be specific—though nothing else. It was a rather odd sight for him, however, to look down and see the amount of muscle he had. Looking for a mirror and finding on in the corner of the room, he dashed over to see what he actually looked like.

"That... is interesting...", was all he could manage. He was nothing like the frail teen that lay on the bed across the room. There was definitely a difference in height, making him break the six foot mark—though he wasn't sure of any real number—and the added muscle mass seemed to suit him perfectly; the balance of speed and power seemed to be tipped in power's favor, but he was still lithe and athletic enough to not have sacrificed any possible speed or mobility. Looking at his hands and feet let him see his nails were all pointed and looked remarkably strong; he tapped his foot on the ground, amusing by the clicking his nails caused.

His face was a a very interesting combination of soft and angular, lacking any real fat or hard edges; it seemed like a lot of him was stuck in between two extremes. A spiky mass of black hair fell to just below his shoulders, though the light revealed as an almost impossibly dark green. His eyes, bright and brimming with some chaotic force, were two different colors: the right was an emerald against his alabaster flesh, the left an amethyst.

The last features he noticed were things he never would have looked for on a human. His ears, which he had originally mistaken for being more spikes in his mane of hair, were now completely canine in appearance, standing perk and twitching at distant sounds. The glimpse of something moving behind him brought his attention to the green-scaled tail that dragged behind him. It was at least as long as he was tall, and fairly whip-like with a great range of motion. He brought it around and felt the muscle hiding under the smooth, swamp-green scales.

"Why does this feel so... natural?", he asked himself, realizing now that his voice was silken and exotic; a far cry from the obnoxious voice he had only minutes prior.

_**Because there's no reason it shouldn't. Humans don't have ears like that or tails, but you are no human.**_

"Someone's coming.", he muttered, eyes widening. He whirled around, knocking over a trashcan and a lamp with his tail, worsening the scene. Anyone who came in would see a strange monster-man, a lot of things knocked over, and a cadaver. "...mmmmmffffuck..."

Needless to say, when the Sandaime Hokage walked in things didn't go over well with him.

]_'/}0{\'_[

All things considered, he was somewhat surprised that they hadn't tried to seal him into a small child yet. On the upside, the chair he was strapped to was surprisingly comfortable for one that was supposed to be used for torture and interrogation. They had thrown him down here after he had been found in the room with his body, skipping the usual benefit of the doubt on account of his ears and tail.

After three hours of sitting alone—a mindfuck tactic, according to Blood—he had taken to talking to Blood for lack of something better to do.

_**I Spy with my little eye...**_

"Knives."

_**Dammit! How'd you know?**_

"There's nothing else to look at in this room."

_**I could have been looking at something here in hell.**_

"True... So, is the whole serenity thing coming from my new...status...?"

_**Pretty much. You're going to have a really short temper though, and you are going to lose all semblance of calm once you start a fight. Outside of that you'll be so zen you could shit a monk.**_

"Charming. Anything else I should know about myself?"

_**Nothing you won't figure out relatively soon. I suppose it would be relatively unfair to skip the basics... but understand that your unique balance of blood and abilities will be based on your actions and preference**_. **_Anything beyond what one might call "basic" is subject to change, and neither of us will know if the basics were untouched until you start experimenting._**

"Noted."

From the other side of the one-way-mirror, the Sandaime sat with the two most skilled interrogators in Konoha, watching the demon talking to itself.

"So... what are we looking for exactly?", Anko asked, stretching. She'd never been asked to interrogate anything other than humans, so she was trying to figure out what would get into this thing's head if the need arose. He was pretty though; it'd be a shame to scar up that body.

"I want to know why it was in that room.", the Sandaime replied. Naruto's body didn't have any external injuries beyond what the medical ninja reported when he came in, and none of his bandages were disturbed. He had ordered the best ninja he had to examine the body of his grandson, and there had been no cause of death identifiable. For all intents and purposes, Naruto Uzumaki had died of natural causes at age nineteen. "Do what you have to in order to get me that information, but be careful. That chair was reinforced with chakra draining seals and more restraints than should have ever been necessary, but we don't know what it's capable of."

"I'm a guy."

The three ninja froze, looking over to see the demon staring at them through the glass; he hadn't moved, and none of the restraints had broken, but his ears twitched at their various movements.

"It's rude to call someone an 'it', you know. And the bindings aren't really necessary.", he added, leaving out the information Blood had just graced him with; it had been a brief conversation that had ended with the beast informing him of the conversation on the other side of the wall. A bit of concentration and he could make out what was being said.

There were a few footsteps that were muffled by the wall before the door opened and three people stepped in; one he didn't know, one he had seen at the start of the second trial, and one that had practically raised him.

"You can hear through the wall?", the woman—Anko, if he remembered properly—asked.

"If I concentrate, yes. To be honest I wouldn't have noticed unless...", he stopped himself, from going any further on account of how foolish it would sound to them. "Well, it's not really important."

"I'll decide what is important or not. What tipped you off?", the Sandaime asked, tone harsh and serious. It was a side that his grandfather that he had never seen.

"...If I tell you, you won't believe me. There a great number of truths, for that matter, that you wouldn't believe."

"Such as?", Anko asked, spinning a kunai on her finger; it had become more of a reflexive habit than a threat, but her "guests" didn't need to know that.

"...Not everyone is perfect, you know. Even I have my flaws; Kami knows that through my life I've done things and developed habits that I'm not proud of. Still, the sign of a great person is not measured by how few flaws they have, but instead by how hard they are willing to work to push past their own flaws in order to aid others.", He replied, looking past Anko.

"What did you say...?", Sarutobi asked, voice betraying his shock.

"I'm sorry if I misquoted you... you told that to me years ago, back when I had blue eyes. I found that little orange book on your desk, and you quickly stashed it away. When I asked if it was something embarrassing, you gave me that little speech.", he continued, offering a light smile, "I know the circumstances aren't exactly the best for me to ask you to believe me, but..."

"...Do you remember the conversation we had where I suggested you should say "believe it"?", Sarutobi asked, appearing to soften.

"We... never had a conversation like that. "Believe it" was my idea; you wanted me to say something really cheesy—what was it, "Justice prevails!"?", he replied, eyebrow raised.

"N-naruto...?", Sarutobi asked, voice shaking as he took a few steps towards the Demon. It had been a trick question.

"Naruto died several hours ago.", He replied bluntly, stopping the old man. Sarutobi took on a look of anger; Anko and Ibiki took a step back.

"Then how did you know all of that? I had those conversations with Naruto, and in a room that was soundproof by design. I sense chakra out of habit; I always have. He and I were the only ones in the room!"

"Naruto was going to die in the Forest at the hands of Oto genin; an attack by Orochimaru weakened his whole team and left the Uchiha with a mark that reeked of darkness and snakes. Even with it's power, they were at the mercy of the other genin. Then, the world stopped for Naruto, and a dark voice called to him, weaving an offer from the shadows. When the world began to move again, Naruto spoke two words and killed all the genin, save for his allies and the girl, but even they didn't escape unscathed. The effort knocked poor Naruto out, and when he woke up he was mortified by what he saw."

He shifted in the chair,closing his eyes as he recounted the tale.

"The Beast told him something of great comfort, however, and Naruto composed himself enough to open a scroll; he knew it would get proctors or Anbu to their position and thus get his injured team the medical aid they so desperately needed. While he was recovering in his bed, the deal he struck with the beast was sealed. The Beast killed Naruto Uzumaki; his sins and successes were wiped from the record. The Kyuubi no Kitsune was dragged to hell while our soul gained this body.", He opened his eyes, staring into Sarutobi's eyes and piercing his soul, "So you see, I was there; you had those conversations with me, but I am not Naruto Uzumaki."

Sarutobi took a moment in silence, expression neutral. When he opened his eyes, he looked directly into the other's eyes.

"Who are you then, if not Naruto?"

"...Vincent Noctis.", came the reply, cool as a night's breeze. After he had been brought here, Blood had originally begun talking about names, listing off a great number. It was a suggestion on Vincent's behalf that they switch to games.

"Vinsento Nocutisu?", Sarutobi repeated, having trouble with the name; it was undoubtedly foreign.

"Vin-cent Noc-tis.", Vincent repeated, nodding. Blood had warned his about some names being difficult for humans to pronounce if they were used to speaking a certain language. His own ability to pronounce it was nothing short of a miracle.

"And you are... what? Naruto reincarnated?", Sarutobi asked, crossing his arms.

"Yes, but I am not Naruto. Not any more.", Vincent replied, "I am not human as he was; Lord Blood reincarnated me as... something more."

"Lord Blood?"

"The King of Hell. He gave me the power to save my team, and despite the damage done they are both alive.", Vincent shifted, sighing, "I don't truly expect you to believe me, but it would be nice."

"...Hokage-sama?...Are we supposed to interrogate him? The fact that he knows about Naruto as a jinchuuriki alone is...", Ibiki trailed off, stopping his comment when Sarutobi raised his hand.

"...What book was it?", Sarutobi asked, a certain level of finality in his tone.

"You never told me the name. I think I saw Kakashi-sensei reading a book like it once, but he just made some aloof statement and brushed it off.", Vincent replied.

"...Naru-...Vin...cento...", Sarutobi started, trying to get his name right, "Anko, let him go. Ibiki, go the meeting room and check for any bugs. Vinsento and I need to have a long conversation regarding the details of what happened.", He directed the final part towards Vincent, who nodded. He and Ibiki left the room, leaving Anko to free the hybrid.

"I think this is the shortest amount of time I've ever had someone tied up.", Anko muttered,undoing the straps, chains, and other various bindings. Vincent chuckled. "What's so funny?"

"You know, you're not quite as scary now as you were prior to the second trial.", he replied, getting a glare in response.

"Don't tempt me to reinforce that image gaki. Just because you got a little taller doesn't mean you're suddenly a big badass, got it?", Anko growled out, a little confused. She wasn't entirely sure that she believed that this exceptionally attractive male was the same orange nuisance as before.

"And what would I have to do to qualify for Badass then?", Vincent asked, standing up and snapping the remaining restraints. Anko had removed all of the metal restraints, leaving only the leather straps, but it was still an impressive feat. She stood up with a tick mark on her forehead, contemplating knocking him out with the chain in her hands and just dragging him to the meeting room. "... I wonder if she's..."

Anko came back to reality from her bloody fantasy, finding the man staring off into space, running a hand through his hair while his tail lazily dragged across the floor.

"Don't make me knock you out and just drag you. It's flat out rude to make a lady like me consider doing such a thing.", Anko said, snapping Vincent from his thoughts.

"Hmm? Did you say something?"

WHACK!

]_'/}0{\'_[

_**Well the was a charming little episode. When do the rampant orgies start?**_

"Hopefully after you go blind if I'm participating.", Vincent replied, getting an odd look from the Anbu as they dashed through the canopy. Sarutobi had been kind enough to give him the true story about Naruto's parents, and as his reincarnation Vincent was going to get the Namikaze mansion.

The cloak that covered him flapped wildly in the breeze, eliciting a sigh from Vincent; he felt like he should be flying, not jumping. Still, this new form allowed him to jump with the speed and distance of the Anbu beside him, though he lacked the practiced grace of the experienced ninja.

_**I do have Hell to run, you know. I'm not watching you all the time, and you can ask me to turn my eye back to Hell if you need a moment. Given how much shit I'm going to give you every other moment of your life... it's the least I can do.**_

"That's oddly generous, coming from the King of Hell.", Vincent muttered, getting another odd look from the Anbu's deer mask. "I'm talking to the King of Hell, shhh."

_**I know you can't hear his thoughts, but I wish you could! HAAHAHA!**_

For the sake of not disturbing the Anbu further Vincent didn't respond; He wanted to though, but the Anbu was leading him to a house that was further into the forest than he had ever been. Disturbing one's guide wasn't the best of plans by any measure.

"Hey, how much farther?", Vincent called out. They had been traveling north for at least half an hour, and they were moving at a pretty fast pace.

"We're very close. The Namikaze Mansion was built in a valley surrounded by the only mountains to break the tree-line in this part of Fire Country. Sort of like a big crater.", the Anbu replied, "I was part of the team the helped rebuild it after the Kyuubi attack; the complex as a whole didn't take a lot of damage, but we had to rebuild an entire wing of the mansion itself."

"That's what you call "not a lot of damage"?", Vincent asked, eyebrow raised.

"Compared to the size of the entire estate, or the amount of damage Konoha sustained, it was a fairly minor amount. Not to mention the Namikaze clan wasn't fond of complex architecture or designs; I don't want to cheapen the feel, but it really didn't take long to fix."

"They had Anbu repairing a house?". He had delayed the question for the sake of the prior one, but this was actually bugging him now.

"Most ninja clans booby trap their homes in some way; if any had been disturbed during the damage ninja had a better chance of avoiding injury. We never found any booby traps, and the teams sent in by the council didn't find anything else either. I mean, the Yondaime pretty much lived in the Hokage tower, so it was predictable they wouldn't find anything "fresh", but they really didn't find anything more than dust and a few old scrolls detailing the daily lives of a few clan members from way back when."

"And why were they rifling through the house?". The question caused the Anbu to almost miss his jump, and he chuckled nervously.

"Err... you really weren't supposed to know all that.", He admitted, keeping his mask forward. Before Vincent could respond, the Anbu pointed forward, towards a clearing. "There's a path leading out of that clearing and into the valley. The estate is technically the valley itself, but it's probably overgrown by now. Could probably fit a whole town in there to be honest. Ah well, I guess that's your trouble now.", the Deer-mask shrugged, "Can you find your way from here, or do you want me to lead you further?"

"I'll be fine."

With that Vincent started towards the path that led into the valley, leaving the Anbu behind.

_**You know, if you start a decent following for me, you can house them there.**_

"What, in the mansion?", Vincent asked, picking up speed; he wanted to see what he was working with. Underneath it all, he was thrilled that he would have a home of his own. Something he _owned_.

_**The valley itself. The mansion is yours, and you'll need it to properly follow some of my... requirements.**_

"...Excuse me?"

_**What, you thought this religion didn't have a doctrine?**_

"I was imagining something... less structured than a set of requirements."

_**Bah, you'll understand soon enough. It's not like I require followers to chop off their left nut. Although that might be a bit unfair for the ladies... I suppose I could require them to cut off their left breast... but I like breasts too much. Dammit, fine. No nut chopping.**_

"I'm not going to ask."

The valley was huge by any standard; overgrown like the Anbu had suspected, but Vincent was decently sure that a good portion of Konoha could have been placed within the mountainous walls. Sitting in the center was the Mansion itself, separated by stone walls that stretched roughly ten feet into the air.

The gate creaked and whined as Vincent pushed the old wood inward, revealing the overgrowth was a little toned down within the walls, but still a nuisance nonetheless. He shut the gate with his tail, deciding the get as much practice with the new appendage as possible. The front door was a little more difficult to open, but Vincent managed to get it open without breaking it; he made a note to fix that before he broke the door by mistake.

_**First thing's first: go to the wall in front of you and press your right palm to it.**_

Vincent surveyed the entrance hall as he walked forward; it was plain, and branched off into two directions, left and right, at the end of the hall. He pressed his palm to the wall as instructed, watching in awe as a crimson symbol seemed to etch itself into the wall. It seemed to be a stylized wolf head within a circle, though twin horns from the wolf's head broke the ring.

_**That is the symbol I want you to spread.**_

"And the doctrine you mentioned?"

_**I personally don't care if you spread it through actions or sermons; as long as the option is clear, people will come to me sooner or later. With how many ninja desire power, I'll gain a great following exceptionally quickly, though many will burn to ashes in their own flames.**_

Vincent listened to the god mutter about various ways to spread the "word", while walking down the halls of the house; it seemed like every major room now had Blood's symbol on the walls. The mansion itself seemed to be two buildings connected by walkways that formed a square courtyard in between the two; the building on the other only had a single floor, where as the one Vincent stood in had at least three.

The hybrid threw himself into an armchair that seemed to be in a living room on the second floor.

"What are the requirements you were telling me about?", Vincent asked, rubbing his temples.

_**The common perception of "Sin" is something that amuses me, and as the King of Hell I know what actually gets you a ticket to the Pit. In truth, there are only five sins: Excess, Wrath, Acedia, Lust, and Hate. My followers are expected to simply indulge within these "sins", though there are certain... limits, and ultimately, the use of the sins isn't black and white. Only my Hounds, or warrior-priests, such as yourself are allowed to exercise Wrath without limit, so long as it is not directed at the faithful.**_

"What do you mean by Excess and Acedia? I've never heard of the latter.", Vincent asked, finding this more interesting than he had thought.

_**Excess is what most humans consider greed, gluttony, or extravagance. I don't want followers laying around doing nothing but coveting shiny things and eating, but I will never call for them to fast or sacrifice gold to me. As for extravagance... I really don't care how far that goes. As long as their antics don't cast a bad light on me, anything goes.**_

"You mean a worse light than "How would you like to worship the King of Hell?"?", Vincent asked, chuckling.

_**If you want to get technical, I'm the **_**God ****_of Hell. Everything associated with Devils, Demons, and usually Evil in general are under my dominion._**

"That sounds so much better.", he replied, sarcasm practically dripping from his words.

_**Hell is a very nice place to live after life; Everyone does a bit of time in the Pit to balance out their Karmic Scales, but that's all the "torment" you have to go through. Unless you're a rapist; then I tend to keep you there for a few centuries longer than necessary. Back to topic, generally after the torment is done, souls go back into the reincarnation cycle, go through life again, and then die; if they were on the "light side", they go to heaven for rewards and punishments; if they were more on the "dark side", they come to me. If you're one of my faithful, you're permitted to stay in Hell as long as you like; you can even get a job as a tormentor in the pit if you get bored.**_

"I'm going to regret this, but "Karmic Scales"?"

_**Simply put, everyone has a metaphorical scale; one side gains weights for the good things you do, the other gains weight for the bad things. What's good and bad has been debated about for ages, but quite frankly there is a large division of angels and demons who judge people's lives and then send them off to either heaven or hel-**_

"Wait, angels and demons wo-"

_**Yes, they work together. What, you thought there was a war going on? My Brother's the King of Heaven; the closest to war we get is the annual prank war.**_

"I...just wow. Wow. Let's just... get back to the sins. What's Acedia?"

_**It's an old word; it's somewhat like sloth, but it also includes the sort of deep depression that prevents you from doing anything. The sin itself is not using what you have been given. Some shorten it to "not enjoying life", but you can hate life and still not commit the sin. Well, hate to a degree. Speaking of Hate, it's a balancing act. Personally, I find it much easier to deal with people who don't hate, but when I tell people to exercise restraint... they end up going so zen they can't even get a little miffed.**_

"Alright... let me get this straight. Basically, you're not asking for any real sacrifice from anyone living a reasonable life in terms of indulgence, and you want us to be relatively peaceful and loving. Is that about right?"

_**Show love and offer peace where it's not completely foolish to do so. If someone stabs you, by all means go completely batshit-crazy on him. If you know an entire village hates you, don't go into it unarmed. In essence, don't be stupid with the peacefulness thing. I know it's weird hearing this from The King of Hell, but quite frankly you humans have been given a very shitty image of what Hell is.**_

"Thou shalt not be stupid or overindulgent?"

_**Pretty much.**_

"And my job as your... Hound... is what exactly? What does a Warrior-priest do?", Vincent asked, wondering how he was going to explain this to people.

_**Your job is to carry out my will. I have demons scrying to find the locations of pseudodemons that are near your level; for the most part, Hounds in your world will be charged with the elimination of the pseudodemons. If we find another threat to the safety of any temple or community build under my name, Hounds will be called to defend. Do not worry about appointing Hounds; I'll handle that. Anyone who prays to me with an open heart will feel my power brush against their soul. If they continue to pray and let me in, I'll know who can become Hounds and who can be clergy. **_

"Are there any particular words or any specific prayers?", Vincent asked, standing up; the chair wasn't that comfortable due to his tail. He felt like exploring a little bit more anyway and walked over to the window to see if he could view anything more from this point.

_**Not really. You can say or think whatever you wish, but for someone who doesn't have a direct link to me like Hounds will—as you do—all they need is my symbol. Either they need to have it on some bit of jewelery or be in a building that bears both my mark and my blessing.**_

"I don't know any silversmiths.", Vincent muttered, finding that there looked to be an extension to the single-story building across the courtyard. It wasn't visible from the courtyard, which was where Vincent had last looked around.

_**If you need Amulets, just ask. I'll have one of the gatekeepers send some to your location; they're a special combination of ore that produces a crimson metal that's stronger than any steel. Borderline Adamantite, actually.**_

"I'll take your word for it.", Vincent replied, eying the sinking sun. "Any advice on where to start? I don't particularly want to hide what I am, but I don't think Konoha is going to let me walk around handing out pamphlets that list the benefits of worshiping you."

_**Well you could always go on a murderous rampage.**_

"How does that help?"

_**It'd keep me entertained.**_

"...Why does that seem to conflict with what you just said?"

_**I'm the King of Hell; Making sense was not in the job description.**_

Vincent didn't respond, not wanting to continue it further. His thoughts trailed back to the girl he had maimed, a slight frown twitching at the corner of his lips.

"Lord Blood, can you restore limbs? Might be able to get somewhere with the whole "faith healing" thing.", Vincent asked, tapping his index finger to his thumb.

_**Two things: One, when you ask a question, don't bullshit me about the reasoning. I can hear your thoughts, remember? Second, I don't do faith healings; that's Hector's shtick.**_ **_Some humans like to use faith as a distraction though; if you wanna go see if that girl is interested in coming here and praying to me, go nuts._**

"I'm sure she'll be perfectly willing. Strange men with dog ears and dragon tails are so trustworthy these days."

_**Oh, thank you for reminding me. As a Hound, you are not permitted to lie or go back on your word. You are, however, more than welcome to twist the wording of a vow or contract all you want, and you can lie by omission. No false truths though; that'll get you a flaming trident to the groin.**_

"Wonderful.", Vincent sighed, facepalming. "Well, I guess starting small is never a bad way to go."

]_'/}0{\'_[

Vincent sat silently in the shadows, watching the girl. She seemed to have gotten past simply staring at the stump where her arm once was, though she seemed to move straight into the Acedia stage. He shook his head, a mix of impressed and annoyed that he was already calling it that. Nonetheless, Vincent felt a desire to get her beyond that loathsome stage.

"What's your name girl?",Vincent asked, eyes glowing in the darkness of the room. She visibly jumped, staring into his eyes with terror.

"W-who are you? One of Orochimaru-sama's men?", she asked, the last part a fearful whisper.

"My name is Vincent Noctis, and my loyalty is to no mortal.", he replied, remaining in the shadows. He rather enjoyed the theatrics, he realized.

"Oh no... don't tell me they sent a monk up here...", she groaned under her breath. Vincent chuckled.

"My loyalty isn't to the one called Kami, girl.", he explained smoothly, stepping from the shadows. "I serve a more... tangible being."

Vincent was fairly sure she was under the impression this was some sort of dream, given how she was staring at his tail and ears..

"You'll have to forgive me; it was my weakness that led to that injury of yours.", Vincent apologized, sitting on the edge of the bed. He reached over and lightly took her hand. "I hope you'll accept this as the start of an apology."

"What are you talking about? What is this?", she asked, looking at the amulet in her hand. "You weren't at the clearing when I-...", she choked, clenching the amulet in her fist and screwing her eyes shut.

"I used to wear a lot of orange."

Her eyes snapped open disbelief and anger within the chocolate orbs.

"As I said, it was my weakness that led to that injury. I wasn't strong enough to understand what I was about to do.", Vincent continued, looking at his palm. "But now my loyalty lies with the one who has the power to let me understand."

The girl seemed content to sit and stare with a great deal of anger mixed with a fair amount of skepticism. To her, it didn't matter if he was lying: it was still a vent.

"Hold that amulet close and open your heart up if you don't believe me; You don't even have to stop glaring.", Vincent instructed, not looking her way. "You'll understand if you do; might even be able to do something about that arm."

He watched the subtle shift in her demeanor; it was a hope that had thrown her off. It wasn't a lie, of course, though Vincent hadn't meant it in the sense of restoring what was lost. Blood offered power, and sometimes you just needed a booster to move on.

Blood hadn't spoken to him since Vincent had arrived; the Beast had told his Hound that he would be taking care of matters in hell for a time. As such, Vincent had to wonder if Blood would say anything to the girl, or if it was just going to b-

WHACK!

Vincent wasn't entirely sure what had hit him, but it was the second time that day he had been hit in the head. He got up into a sitting position and looked back at the bed to see what had struck him.

The girl seemed to be caught up in between staring at him and staring at the fluorescent light; one end had came unhinged and swung down, hitting him in the back of the head.

"Hmm... well, that wasn't too plesa-"

CRACK!

The other end had come unhinged, dropping the whole light unto Vincent's head. At that point, he was convinced that it wasn't fault construction.

"Alright, what the fu-"

THWACK!

This time a ceiling panel fell, breaking in half on the hybrid's head.

_**Just to let you know, she asked me to drop shit on you to prove my existence. I like this girl.**_

"Charming.", Vincent muttered, standing up with a tick mark. "Are you convinced Blood is real, or is there something else you'd like to have him drop on me."

"...He just said he won't take your arm...", she replied a minute later, eyes shadowed.

"I'm a Hound; I need both my arms to serve Blood properl-"

"Then take your stupid amulet and leave!", she shouted, chucking the trinket at him. Using reflexes that he wasn't aware he had, the amulet was caught and tossed back into her hand. "You just said you-"

"I need my arms because it's my job to fight in Blood's name.", Vincent replied, leaning down into the girl's face. "You are not a Hound; you don't need to worry about having an abnormal life following Blood just because you have one arm."

"...whatever he offers doesn't matter. Orochimaru will have me killed; I've been captured in essence, and I'm useless with one arm. It's pointless to do anything but sit here a-"

SMACK!

"Given the amount of shit you had dropped on me, I'm not even going to apologize for that.", Vincent sighed, retracting his hand. "If you're going to waste everything offered to you, you really are better off dead. If you're willing to accept the power, however, you'll find no trouble dragging your ass out of the mire you're in.". Vincent stood, turning to look down at the girl as she held her cheek with a shocked look. "I was questioned earlier, and I identified you as the last surviving ninja of the Oto squads. Blood told me who Orochimaru was, and of his connection to the Oto ninja, and that information was relayed to the Hokage. They'll drag you from this room as soon as they find out you're awake, and they'll take you to the interrogation cells. You'll be tortured in the worst of ways in order for them to figure out what you know, and then you'll be left to rot in a cell, waiting either your own death or one of Orochimaru's assassins."

"...", the girl was silent, entranced by Vincent's words.

"Or, you can come with me. The hokage and I are close enough for me to have you questioned instead of tortured; a small dose of truth serum and an uncomfortable chair in place of a number of instruments meant to make you squirm and scream.", Vincent said, voice smooth as silk. "And I swear that I will personally protect you from any harm that Orochimaru, or anyone else, might send your way."

Vincent realized a moment later that he had given his word; it was an odd feeling to actually feel yourself being bound to a promise. A chain that wasn't really all there was the closest he could get to likening it to something.

"What makes you think you could do it...?", she asked, quietly. "He's a Sannin with countless jounin under him."

"Simple; I have a demonic friend who's very interested in entertainment. How hilarious would the look on Orochimaru's face be when every attempt he makes is thwarted by someone without a ninja rank, whose power comes from something he'll never understand?"

_**Oh, now that does sound like fun...**_

Vincent ignored Blood for the moment, not entirely against the idea of fighting Orochimaru for the sake of Blood's entertainment. He had, after all, been the technical cause of all of this bullshit; he'd get a thank-you card and a Chaos Hammer to the face.

The girl seemed torn between the desire to continue to wallow in self-pity, and the temptation of the power that Vincent and Blood offered. A quick look at the amulet in her hand made the decision a simple one.

"They said my ankle was sprained; you'll have to carry me if we're in a hurry.", she said, blushing when she realized Vincent was shirtless. His eyes, ears, and tail had distracted her up until that point.

"It would be my pleasure...?"

"...Kin. My Name is Kin Tsuchi."

"Well Kin, I think we've both overstayed our welcome. Blood will let me know how to get out of the forest, so just sit tight and try not to pray for any branches to fall on my head. Fair enough?", Vincent asked, picking her up, sheets and all. He made sure to wrap her in said sheets to protect her from the cold air, as her torn clothing would do little and he didn't want her dying of a flu when she had survived the Chaos Hammer.

_**Just jump out the window and run like hell straight forward. You'll hit the edge of the forest by dawn if you go fast enough, and you'll be on the east edge. Pray if you get lost; I need to deal with something here in hell in the meantime.**_

"Understood.", Vincent replied, jumping out the window and dashing forth with Kin in his arms.

]_'/}0{\'_[

"**What have you found?"**, Blood asked, looking at the pool that the mages sat around. Most of them were incubi and sucubi, but Oberon sat at their head, a great Cornugon with dusty scales and more chain wrapped around him than what should have been possible.

"Ultimately there are no pseudodemons that Vincent can combat without dying.", Oberon replied, cracking his thick neck and dusting off his horns. "Sending him to battle with any of them is foolish. At least for the time being."

"**Wonderful."**, Blood replied, tapping his leg armor with a single obsidian claw, **"What of the ninja?"**

"What do you mean?"

"**Comparatively, how strong are the ninja?"**

"Ah... let's see...", Oberon tossed some dust into the small brazier beside him, looking into the flames. "That plan would work nicely, my King."

"**I may have to sacrifice a minor amount of entertainment later, but it's better than having my Hound die with a futile task. It can be manipulated though, like all things."**, Blood replied, a wicked grin spreading across his canine features. **"Look into the specifics. I want to get a fair amount of momentum going before we let this stone roll on it's own."**

"Understood, my King. I shall send an imp with my findings as soon as I know enough.", Oberon replied, turning back to the pool.

"**No, send the imp and I'll come in person. I've taken an interest in this Hound, and it would be a shame to lose some entertainment due to the cooperate ladder."**

"Indeed. Shall I send the imp the does back flips or the one that juggles it's own head?"

"**Surprise me."**

]_'/}0{\'_[

* * *

><p>And there's the end of chapter one. Tell me how you feel about the shift and I'll adjust my course based on that and personal preference.<p>

I'm well aware of the fact that this doesn't feel like the original. If you say that, I'm going to ignore you.

Also, I'm interested in hearing what you think of Blood's "doctrine". Yes, I'm using that word loosely. It was a rough description, and nothing is ever black and white with Blood.

There's a poll up regarding what Sins Vincent will begin to embody. They come with a "Combat side" and a "Plot side". For example, Wrath comes with a number of destructive powers, but will make his temper so short it's not even funny.

Ja Ne, my Freaky Darlings.


	3. Negotiations and Preliminaries

Hello again, my most freaky of Darlings!

For those of you wondering who won the poll... well, it didn't seem overly fair to me; I pulled half of those choices out of my ass, and some were definitely more appealing than the others. _**So, there's a new poll with revised options on it. Go vote on it**_**. **It'll take like, ten seconds if your computer is slow as hell. Yeah, do it now before you forget to... lazy buggers.

* * *

><p><strong>]_'}0{\'_[**

"That is a very odd request, Vinsento.", Sarutobi sighed, shaking his head. "I'm at least making an attempt to get your name right."

"Don't worry about my name; can you get me into the exams?", Vincent asked, hands keeping his tail—which sat in his lap—from accidentally destroying anything. Blood had given him instructions to train with the ninja until he was ready to fight the pseudodemons. He could have gone the long way and been placed under a jounin, but getting back into the chuunin exams, and passing, would give him access to higher level missions and higher level clearance in the Shinobi Archives.

"It's beyond the point where a team is required, but it will seem very odd for a... person of your physical nature... to enter and bear Konoha's symbol.", Sarutobi replied. "I know that you technically have Naruto's spot reserved for yourself, but the other Kages will have a fit. Politics... avoid them if at all possible."

_**Words of wisdom... just like "Don't stick your dick in a light socket". Actually the two are fairly interchangeable.**_

"Duly noted.", Vincent replied, speaking to both of them. "But what if I wasn't representing Konoha? I'd be more than willing to engrave Blood's Symbol into a headband and represent him."

"There's still the issue of a last minute entry. It's showing favoritism, which the other villages won't like.", Sarutobi countered, taking a drag from his pipe. "Ultimately, you representing Blood would be better for the peace than representing Konoha, but..."

"The first test can be falsified; say I took it off site due to my physical nature. Two nights ago I ran into the Forest, to the tower. There, I removed Kin and then ran back out before daybreak. I think that covers the second trial.",Vincent said calmly, tapping a finger against his tail. Sarutobi nodded, considering the plan. He and Vincent had already spoke of his "kidnapping" of Kin; his promise to have her questioned instead of tortured was fine by Sarutobi.

"That is definitely possible, though I can pull no further strings once you're entered; you'd be on your own. If any more teams make it through the forest, there will be a preliminary match in the tower; you'll have to attend that. If not, you'd still need to be there in order to find out who your opponent would be in the finals."

"When would the preliminaries be held?", Vincent asked, sitting a little straighter and stopping his tapping. "I promised Kin I would protect her, and leaving her alone in a house in the middle of nowhere is not what I would call protecting. If I must stay for several hours, so be it, but I won't spend days in that tower waiting for those several hours."

"You could leave her in the interrogation department."

"No; if she's questioned it will be at my home.", Vincent replied, tone firm. Sarutobi leveled a minor glare at the hybrid.

"Vinsento, you should remember that you're trying to enter an army under my command. Setting terms isn't within your power right now.", Sarutobi reminded him.

"I made a vow that I intend to keep; at my home she is protected from any mental assault because of Blood's Blessing. My protection is purely physical.", Vincent returned, "I'm setting that term for her well being; she has been placed in my care by Blood. Kin is his first convert, and he's rather interested in having her live... admittedly because the two of us are awkward as hell around each other."

"Excuse me?"

"Lord Blood... does a lot of things for his own entertainment. I'm sure there's more to it than just watching us 'squirm', but that's the reason I was given, and thus it's the reason I shall use."

"That is not something I can legitimately consider.", Sarutobi returned. "The questioning needs to take place in a location I know to be secure. I personally do not care if Blood himself came and told you that house was bug-free; the interrogation division is the only place that I can put some level of trust into."

Vincent sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Can I at least be present? I don't want that questioning happening when I'm not there."

"And why is that?"

"I'll know if something is going wrong, like someone poisoning the truth serum perhaps?", Vincent replied, slightly agitated.

"Is there a reason you're being this paranoid?", Sarutobi asked, frowning.

_**Good news, I can tell you how to set up a little barrier around the mansion. Anyone entering it, as in going past the walls, will be weakened severely, if not outright cursed. Anyone entering with harmful intent will be injured upon crossing the boundary, and will take further injuries if they stay withing the boundary.**_

"Why didn't you tell me that earlier?"

_**I'm used to having priests who have a formal education of what a deity's blessing can do. It's not my fault you're an idiot by comparison**_

"Vinsento, are you asking me a question or are you-"

"I was speaking with Blood. I can set up a barrier that will injure anyone crossing it who isn't faithful to Blood, and I'm rather eager to go home and set it up.", Vincent replied, leaning back. "So have we come to a conclusion on my entry into the chuunin exams?"

Sarutobi stood and walked over to the window, looking over Konoha for a moment. The old Kage seemed to be deep in thought. After a few minutes, he returned to his desk and quickly wrote something on a small scroll. Sarutobi then sealed it with the seal of the Hokage, tossing it to Vincent when the wax was dry.

"Go down to the Mizuhara Metalworks and give them this; it's instructions to give you a blank headband.", Sarutobi sighed, sitting down, "This is likely to be the beginning of an amazingly large shitstorm, but it may be for the best. Blood doesn't exactly sound like a stable being to worship, but if he wants you to be a demonslayer, then I will do what I can to get you on your way."

Vincent stood up and bowed, turning to leave the room a moment later.

"Vincent.", Sarutobi stopped the hybird, who turned around with a raised brow. "When you show up for the exams, put a shirt on for Kami's sake."

_**Vincent, I henceforth forbid you from wearing a shirt.**_

**]_'/}0{\'_[**

The metalworks was a little bigger than what Vincent had expected, taking up twice the area most shops used. Then again, it looked like they sold everything from pots and pans to kunai and katanas; a fair amount of room was probably necessary. It sat on the edge of the shopping district, near where some of the "factories" were; a rather fitting location, all things considered.

He ducked through the door, tired of the stares and whispers he had gotten on the streets; they had been oddly thrilling at first, but now they were just an annoyance. Some of the women who were whispering, however, would have been welcome nuisances any day...

"Can I help...you...?", a voice called at the ringing of the bell on the door, fading out when it's owner saw the customer that had tripped it. Vincent looked over to see a middle-aged man, slightly covered in soot and wearing a leather apron, gawking at him.

"Might want to close that mouth; it'll be full of soot before the hour is up.", Vincent advised, walking over. He took care to make sure his tail didn't knock over anything, opting to have it raise up behind him.

"Err...right...", The man replied, eying the wolf ears on Vincent's head.

"May I speak to the manager? I have a purchase in mind that's slightly illegal from what I understand.", Vincent asked, pulling out the scroll from his pocket.

"Hey now, we don't deal in anything illegal.", the man replied, pushing the scroll away.

"It's permission from the Hokage to purchase an unmarked plate for a headband.", Vincent countered, setting the scroll down. "Now where's the manager?"

"You're lookin' at him, now what's this about permission from Sarutobi?", he asked, taking the scroll and looking it over. "That's the old bastard's seal alright..."

"How long will it take? I'm running on a tight schedule."

"Cool your heels, I just have to go into the back and get a plate. With how many shinobi get them dinged up, we keep a fair amount in stock.", He replied, "Name's Gozu Mizuhara. My family and I run the Metalworks; Sarutobi told me you might have more commissions for me and mine in the future, so I thought I might get introductions outta the way. So, who and what are you?"

"Vincent Noctis, and it's polite to give your own species before asking for someone else's.", Vincent returned, expression unamused.

"Human."

"Incubus, Archon, half-dragon; take your pick."

"What the hell's an Incubus and an Archon?"

"The start of a really long conversation that will result in you locking up any female offspring you have and possibly converting to the worship of Lord Blood, King of Hell.", Vincent replied, straight-faced.

"Uh-huh... I think my daughter can take care of herself, but I'll keep my katana sharp just in case.", Gozu replied, going into the back a few seconds after. When he returned, he chucked a metal plate into Vincent's hand. "There's your plate; be careful with the engraving. This one's on the house, but the next one will cost the normal price."

"Duly Noted. Ja Ne.", Vincent replied, turning and exiting the store. It took him relatively little time to realize it was pouring down rain.

_**Want me to add in some lightning?**_

It was going to be a long run home.

**]_'/}0{\'_[**

"Vincent, why was there a red dome around the mansion a few minutes ago?", Kin asked, tone sweet enough to let the hybrid sitting on the floor know that he needed to be careful about answering.

"Blood told me how to put a barrier up that offers a little more... physical protection. Anyone entering with hostile intent will be injured based on how long they remain; death is quite possible.", Vincent replied, standing up and facing the shorter girl.

In the short time they had lived together, Kin had grown used to the hybrid's appearance and had made it known she was holding him to the "fuck-up of his previous pain-in-the-ass reincarnation". In essence, she had moved past being sad about her arm to being pissed about it. There was a level of gratitude to her mannerisms, of course—she was well aware of the risk Vincent took to save her and protect her—but she counted his heroism as only a partial repayment of the debt owed. They were both aware that Vincent felt guilty enough to accept that.

"Next time give me some warning; I damn near cut my other hand off!", she shouted, walking over and whacking him upside the head.

"I was doing it for your own damn protection while I'm gone tomorrow!", Vincent shot back, whacking her in return. "Crazy little... how did you almost cut your hand off anyway?"

"I was cutting up some carrots for dinner and the flash made me jump when I had the knife in my hand.", Kin replied, eye twitching. Vincent blinked, confused.

"How did that almost make you-"

"Stupid demon!"

"Hey, get off of my tai-OW! Crazy bitch!"

"Who are you calling a bitch you psychopath!"

_**Ah, young love. It's more fun with violence.**_

"Oh would you shut up!", Vincent shouted at the voice, trying to fend off Kin, who had managed to knock him onto the ground.

"Who the hell are you telling to shut up?", Kin shouted, wrestling her leg from his grip and kicking him.

_**You've got the strength of a archon and a dragon, the smarts of an Incubus, and two more limbs than she does. How are you losing?**_

"I'm talking to Lord Blood you crazy bitch!", Vincent shouted back, now annoyed and with a wounded ego. Kin's tick mark grew a bit.

"Stop calling me a crazy bitch!", she shot back, kicking at him only to have her leg caught by his tail.

"I will when you stop acting like one! I'm trying to save you and you're trying to beat the living hell out of me!"

_**A rather interesting concept; can one beat the hell out of one who is part demon?**_

"Let go of my foot dammit!", Kin growled, trying to jerk her leg free. Unfortunately, doing so made Vincent's tail come across her other leg, tripping her. Given that she was already slightly bent over from Vincent holding her wrist, there was only one way down. "Oof!"

Kin came down hard, but Vincent barely felt the impact with how little Kin weighed, though the fall made him release her ankles and wrist. They laid there for a few seconds silently, sprawled out on the floor with Kin on top across Vincent's chest.

"So why were you cutting up carrots?", Vincent asked, silence bothing him. He shifted into a sitting position_**, **_helping Kin up into one as well. The fall had apparently knocked the fight out of them, though Kin still seemed agitated.

"I told you, I was trying to make dinner.", she replied quietly, trying to cross her arm with one that wasn't there anymore. Immediately she stopped the action and returned her arm to her side, turning her back on the hybrid.

"Don't strain yourself.", Vincent replied, face softening.

_**Oh dammit... we're back to the nauseating part...**_

Vincent ignored the hybrid's words, focusing on the girl before him. She shot him an annoyed glare over her shoulder.

"And what's that supposed to mean?", she asked, tone dangerous.

"It means I don't want you to overexert yourself just because you're obsessed with proving that your lack of an arm hasn't hindered your ability to function. Take things at a pace that won't kill you instead of trying to prove something to me.", Vincent replied, ears twitching in annoyance.

"Who said I'm trying to prove anything to you?"

"You and I are the only ones here; either you're trying to prove something to me, or you need to set personal goals that won't injure you further in the process."

"And how do you know Blood didn't tell me to!"

_**Hey, leave me out of this.**_

The deity's voice came to both of them, and Vincent smirked.

"What are you smirking at?", Kin asked, eye twitching. The Hellhound's voice still disturbed her a little, but knowing that there was a deity that was legitimately there and able to do things was a slight comfort. Knowing that she was on said deity's good side was even moreso. Being ratted out by said deity was more than a little annoying though.

"Victory."

"I'll remember to poison your food then."

_**Actually he's immune to poison. I know that much survived the blender I put your genetics through.**_

"Goddammit!", Kin shouted, standing up and leaving the room in a huff. Vincent chuckled to himself as he watched her go.

"She's cute when she's mad."

_**Then keep pissing her off; by that logic she'll be the most beautiful woman in the world while she's trying to kill you.**_

"Noted.", Vincent replied, turning his attention to the room he was in. It was the second floor living room that was closest to the stairs; as it happened, there were three on that floor. "I'm thinking about closing part of this off and making it my study; somewhere I can lock the door and practice the magic you grace me with."

_**I'd recommend seeing if this place has a basement before deciding a location for a room like that. Stone walls hold up a bit better than wood, and they don't burn as well.**_

"I think I did see stairs on the first floor of the other building... but I don't think I particularly want to tempt Kin when that many knives are available."

Vincent was referring to the fact that the other building was where the kitchen was located; it was massive, and only stocked with what few vegetables Kin had found growing in the unattended garden behind said garden. There was a decent stock of canned goods, which was what they had been eating recently however. The stairs he had seen to enter whatever basement or cellar it was, however, were on the other side of said kitchen.

_**You may want to check around this building then. I do believe I sense something when I was applying my blessing; then again, I wasn't really paying attention.**_

"It's a start. Oh, and how am I supposed to go about etching your symbol into the metal?", Vincent asked, remembering the plate in his pocket.

_**I was wondering when you'd ask. As my Hound, you can convey my blessing unto you equipment by putting a drop of blood on it and saying "I bless this...item... in the name of the Hellhound.", though you'd be wise to replace "item" with the name of said item. Or say nothing there, that works too sometimes.**_

"And that will put the symbol on the plate?"

_**Yes; it's also likely to create the cloth for it.**_

"Likely? As in you're not sure?"

_**It's based on your ability to channel my influence; if it goes haywire, it's your fault.**_

Vincent didn't respond, sighing to himself instead.

"Might as well get this over with then.", he muttered to himself, biting his finger to draw forth the blood and letting a drop onto the metal. "I bless this headband in the name of the Hellhound."

Vincent almost dropped the metal when it started glowing a dark crimson, heading up while it did so. He held onto it as it shifted and warped, stunned as a red cloth materialized from nothing while the metal turned black as night. As the glow died down, smalls horns extended upwards from the plate, maybe an inch in length, and Blood's symbol etched itself into the metal in a blood red color that stood out against the obsidian plate.

"Okay, that was cool."

_**You have not even scratched the surface of how awesome my gifts can be.**_

"I'll keep that in mind when I get some more clothes.", Vincent replied, tying the headband around his head and making sure to get his bangs to go over the plate, not under it. He didn't mid the sides being restrained.

_**I have another Hound in a different world with hair like yours. He's a pure incubus, and his hair is brown, but if the spikes annoy you, he found that growing it out will tone down the spikes. They'll still be there, but they'll be pointing down and won't be quite as obnoxious.**_

"And I'm being told this...why?"

_**Because he's good at conversation, and he likes hearing about other Hounds from different worlds. He was interested in you because you're the newest Hound, and one from a "virgin" world no less. Ritter was curious as to what you looked like, so I told him; he asked me to pass along that tip.**_

"You pass along messages for Hounds?"

_**Sometimes; Hell has spikes of activity, and then pitfalls of boredom. If a Hound has been an interesting enough servant, I'll converse with them occasionally, passing along bits of information from other Hounds. Quite frankly there will be points where you might not hear from me for weeks, but as a Hound you'll always feel my presence.**_

"The lack of commentary will be odd. I'll say that much.", Vincent replied, walking downstairs to look for a way into the basement without risking Kin's one-armed wrath. "What should I wear tomorrow then? You've ruled out shirts for all eternity apparently."

_**I don't care. It's the old man that brought it up, and I really don't care about this "Kami" chick.**_

"Well I'm already showing up shirtless with wolf ears, a dragon tail, and a horned headband bearing the symbol of the King of Hell.", Vincent sighed, wondering if he should just go for the eccentric factor.

_**Eccentricities are fun. Did you know I make everyone in my army brush their teeth almost religiously? It's funny to see an army of hellish demons with gleaming white teeth.**_

"Well if nothing else the women should enjoy themselves.", Vincent replied, facepalming.

_**Now you're thinking like an Incubus. **_

"This is going to be a long week."

**]_'/}0{\'_[**

"_Well this isn't so bad."_

Vincent had to question the capability of half the genin though, given how few had noticed him. Most of the jounin had, and those who didn't appear to probably had and had simply made no physical move. Sarutobi had sent him an annoyed glance at seeing him still shirtless, to which he had simply shrugged apologetically.

The only difference in Vincent's clothing were the gloves that extended to his biceps; they lacked fingers and bore metal plates on the back, each bearing Blood's Hellhound symbol. Vincent had to admit, there was a certain pleasure in having the material conform to his arms.

Vincent shifted his weight a little bit, putting more of it on the wall he was leaning against.

_**Incubi are stealthy little bastards and that combined with a very interesting ability of Green dragons—that is, you're harder to see against any background if you stay still, including broad daylight—is what's preventing the genin from noticing you. Even some of the jounin would have missed you if you hadn't shifted your weight earlier.**_

Vincent didn't respond, just giving a mental nod. Sarutobi had stepped forward, and Vincent felt that he at least owed the old man the grace of listening.

"Allow me to congratulate you all on making it through the forest; I can only hope that this has shown you that a ninja's true strength is revealed when others rely upon them.", Sarutobi began, voice thundering through the large arena and commanding the attention of all within the walls. Vincent was impressed. "However, this number of successful teams is unprecedented; an preliminary round must take place to thin the number of contestants in the Final round."

There was a small chorus of dissent from the assembled teams; some complaining about having only hours to have rested. Vincent felt like he was cheating; he had been escorted by an Anbu several hours earlier, and was already rested up. It pained him to see Sakura standing alone by Kakashi; broken ribs could be fixed quickly with medical jutsu, but Sasuke's eyes...

"Silence!", Sarutobi shouted, killer intent stifling the noise in an instant. "This is not a topic up for discussion. The screen you see behind me will generate random matches between two individuals; Hayate will now explain the rules for these matches."

Sarutobi stepped back and allowed a sickly man to step forward. After a small bout of coughing, he began.

"No killing will be allowed, but a winner will not be declared until your opponent is disabled or surrenders. Other than kill-shots and lethal poisons, anything goes. Anyone who wants to bail out before the matches start had better do so now."

Vincent saw a single genin raise his hand; he looked familiar...ah, Kabuto. Vincent could sense something off about the genin though, and it set him on edge.

"I'm just too tired from the forest...", Kabuto offered, wincing when his teammates glared at him.

"Your team won't be disqualified, only you.", Hayate added, settling some of the unrest. Surprisingly, no one else raised their hands. "Very well. The first match will be...", he trailed off, looking behind him as the screen shuffled through names. While it did so, a shinobi walked up to Hayate and whispered something in his ear. "Due to the number of fighters, someone will have to fight twice. Are there any volunteers, or do you want to leave it to the randomizer?"

_**Do it. I want to see you fight.**_

"No-one? Alright th-"

"I'll fight twice.", Vincent called from his spot on the deck, drawing everyone's eyes. He heard their whispers and felt their stares.

"Name?"

"Vincent Noctis."

The shinobi walked off to input Vincent as having two fights while Hayate turned his attention back to the screen.

_KIBA INUZUKA VS CHOUJI AKAMICHI_

_**Ignore the match and prepare yourself for your own fights.**_

"They're my friends.", Vincent whispered while Hayate told everyone to move to the decks on either side of the arena.

_**Then do that trust thing you recall from your humanity and let them fight. You've never fought in this body, and anything you try to do that you remember from Naruto's body will be clumsy and useless.**_

"Any suggestions?", he asked, whispering. Most of the genin moved to the deck on the other side; only when there was no more room did they start filing in on Vincent's side. They still stayed far away from him though.

_**I'd recommend "Come forth from the darkness and light the way to havoc". Oh dammit... I set an imp on fire. You'll have to excuse me; It's the one that juggles it's head, which means I have something to take care of. I'll be watching you fight though, make no mistake.**_

Vincent felt the need to facepalm at the deity's cryptic answer, but settled for closing his eyes and sighing. Something had sounded amazingly wrong with the way Blood had said that though. Of course, japanese sounded weird coming from the King of Hell no matter how you looked at it, but there was something specifically wrong with that cryptic answer. It was like he hadn't spoken in Japanese at all, yet it was the only language Vincent knew; he wouldn't have understood it otherwise.

"Winner, Kiba Inuzuka!", Hayate announced, drawing Vincent back to reality.

"Was I really zoned out that long?", he muttered, watching the medical ninja carry Chouji off while Kiba walked over to the deck stairs; he had been injured though, and Akamaru seemed fairly beat up as well. Chouji hadn't gone down without a fight. Vincent glanced over at the board, almost annoyed that it was two people he didn't know, nor had he ever heard of.

He switched back to thinking of Blood's words, and how they sounded. The more he thought about it, the less it sounded like the Hellhound had spoken in Japanese. It was something... older. Vincent wasn't sure how he knew that, but it was just like some kind of reflexive and instinctual knowledge.

"Vinsento!"

The call snapped him back to reality, and his eyes searched for the source. Hayate was calling him.

"Are you forfeiting the match?"

"Sorry, my mind was elsewhere. No, I'm not.", Vincent responded, glancing over to the board to see who he was fighting.

_VINCENT NOCTIS V.S SANMARU ARAGAWA_

Vincent took his time to walk down the stair and sized up his opponent as he did so. Sanmaru didn't look very old or experienced; maybe sixteen or so, but the inexperienced stance could have been a ruse. He wore what Vincent guessed was the standard garb for a sound ninja, which was black pants, sandals, and some odd grey shirt with a cow-patterned collar. It seemed to mundane to be of a personal style, and he saw a few more of the oto genin wearing it on the deck above. It might have just been a team thing, though, since only two other genin wore it.

"Are you ready?", Hayate asked, eyebrow raised, "If you zone out again it's likely to be an injury that brings you back to reality."

"I'll be quite focused now, thank you. When a deity says something cryptic, you'd best try to figure out what it means though, right?", Vincent replied, standing perfectly relaxed.

"What the hell are you talking about? Just get ready already!", the genin shouted, irritated.

"So hasty.", Vincent chastised, shaking his head. "If you're in a rush, fine, but don't expect me to go at any pace but my own."

"Tch, you're just itching for a beating. Where the fuck is that headband from anyway?"

"Hell."

"Ready?", Hayate asked, preparing to dodge any explosive first moves, "...Go!"

Sanmaru seemed eager to get this fight over with, for better or worse, and charged in. Vincent, acting on reflex, spun under his punch and knocked his feet out from under him with his tail. The brown-haired boy hit the ground hard.

"You really shouldn't charge in like that.", Vincent said, feeling some sort of rush building up from inside. It was unlike anything he had ever felt, but it was small.

"Fuck you!"

Vincent went on the offensive this time, lashing out at the boy with his tail as Sanmaru rose. A painful ringing in Vincent's ears made him lose his balance though, falling to the ground a moment later.

Sanmaru unleashed a flurry of blows on the downed hybrid, who was unable to move because of the ringing; the paralysis didn't last long, and Sanmaru only barely dodged the clawed swipe at his midsection.

"What... the _hell_... was that?", Vincent asked, enraged. Sanmaru smirked, tapping a bracelet that was slightly hidden by his sleeve.

"Not so high and mighty now are ya? Those dog ears don't like this noise, do they?", He shouted, striking the Bracelet again. The piercing ringing filled Vincent's ears again, but this time he was ready for Sanmaru's assault.

When he swung at Vincent, the hybrid leaned out of the way and then brought his fangs down on the boy's wrist as it passed his mouth. He bit cleanly through the metal and easily though the flesh and bone. The ringing stopped as Vincent jumped back, spitting out the bloody chuck as Sanmaru stared at his limp hand and maimed wrist. Then, the screaming started.

"You taste terrible.", Vincent taunted, dashing in and striking him in the gut with his tail; the blow winded him, and the elbow that came soon after to his temple knocked him out cold.

"...Winner, Vincent...", Hayate announced, slightly pale as Vincent spat out some blood that probably wasn't his own. "Err... don't go anywhere.", Hayate halted the hybrid as he tried to walk back to the decks.

"What? Why?", Vincent asked, spitting again; he made a mental note that humans tasted relatively terrible. Maybe it was just Sanmaru though...

"You're fighting again...", Hayate sweatdropped, pointing at the screen.

"Seriously? Two in a row?"

"It's randomized, and you were zoned out for about five matches; there aren't many contestants left. Having to fight multiple opponents without resting is also a part of being a chuunin.", Hayate explained, getting only a groan of annoyance from the hybrid.

"Alright, who's the next victim?", Vincent asked, looking up the the board.

_TENTEN MIZUHARA VS VINCENT NOCTIS_

"Why does that sound painfully familiar?", Vincent asked, trying to place the name. When he saw the buns of the girl standing across from him, he remembered a bit. "Ah, you're on Bushy Brow's team. The one with a brain and lacking a stick up your ass.", Vincent recalled, looking up at Lee and Neji respectively. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't like hitting women; I'm going to try not to injure you."

"If you want to hold back and give me the match, go nuts.", Tenten replied, somewhat miffed that he had said that. "Just don't think you're going to have an easy match just because I'm a woman."

"Never said that; just said I don't like hitting women. Though, all things considered, I don't like _being_ hit by women either."

"You're out of luck then; I never miss my target."

"Forgive me if I sidestep."

"Hey, can you two stop making out and fight!", someone yelled from the decks. Before he could stop himself, Vincent turned his head to the source and replied.

"If a someone would willing stop making out with her than they need their head checked.", Vincent shouted back, wry smirk barely visible on his lips.

"You know this is something to be taken seriously, right?", Hayate asked. He didn't want to be referee to a flirting match.

"Of course I'm serious; I bit a guy's wrist in half a moment ago. Can't get much more serious than that.", Vincent replied, actually taking a rough stance this time. It was mostly instinct and memories from his time as Naruto, but it at least gave him the ability to dodge sooner than standing completely relaxed. He noticed that, though ready with her hands hovering by her weapon pouches, Tenten seemed a bit flushed.

"If you say so. Ready?", Hayate asked, getting nods in return. He prepared himself to jump out of range, "Begin!"

After narrowly dodging the small hail of kunai and shuriken, Vincent was fairly certain that this fight was going to be a major pain in the ass. A fast, ranged opponent was currently his worst enemy.

"_Okay... what can I do that-_Whoa shit!", Vincent shouted, sidestepping from a few more kunai that had broken his train of thought. _"Perhaps now would be a good time to figure out what Blood was talking about... Nope, time to dodge!"_

"Would you just hold still?", Tenten shouted, fairly irked that this... guy, was able to dodge her weapons. And why did he have to be shirtless? She had, unfortunately in her mind, seen Lee and Gai shirtless on one of their missions and knew what a ripped male looked like. This Vincent, however, pulled it off in a way that was actually distractingly attractive; the tail and ears somehow made him seem exotic.

"And get skewered? Umm...no?", Vincent replied, glad that the agility of an Incubus was definitely present in his body. Dodging a kunai wasn't hard for him, but dodging in a way that didn't get him hit by the next kunai did take a fair bit of concentration when she was throwing three or four at a time, rapidly. "Where the hell do you keep all of those?"

"Trade secret, now stop dodging!"

"_Come forth from the darkness and light the way to havoc, Come forth from the darkness and light the way to havoc,Come forth from the darkness and light the way to havoc! What the HELL does it mean and how the fuck was it supposed to be useful?", _Vincent mentally shouted, being driven further away from his opponent with every kunai. " _Come forth from the darkness and light the way to havoc, Stylii wyhudrni whuyli drnii tyehugoraimymy eraty chunknidr drnii ziean dry niefiyst! Wait, what?"_

Vincent didn't dodge the shuriken in time, and even his last minute correction cost him several cuts across his back. The pain was minor though; the feeling from his fight with Sanmaru was returning tenfold, and he felt the tingle of power dancing through his arms. Something about those words felt ancient, and very powerful.

Vincent couldn't stop his arm from raising, and it felt like he was watching himself in the third person as he dodge another set of weapons, speaking while he did so.

"Stylii wyhudrni whuyli drnii tyehugoraimymy eraty chunknidr drnii ziean dry niefiyst!", he cried, a burst of flame springing forth from his outstretched hand. It was a sphere of at least three feet, and traveled faster than Tenten's kunai. The sudden loss of energy, however, brought Vincent to his knees and almost made him miss the amazing dodge Tenten managed; the fireball just kept going though, striking stone hands at the other end of the arena and exploding in a massive burst of flame. "Okay, now that was fucking awesome."

"Would have been more awesome if it had actually done something.", Tenten sweatdropped. Vincent stood and pointed to the wrecked statue.

"I blew up a statue; that was a big statue, and thus it's destruction denotes a larger than normal level of awesome.", Vincent reasoned, tail and ears perk.

"And you missed me."

"I'm not even going to gratify that with a response.", Vincent remarked, eyes now focused. There was something inside of him screaming for battle; something that wanted to revel in the violence. "Eventually you're going to run out of weapons though, and when that happens I get to close in an end this annoyance."

"Though you didn't like hitting women."

"This,", Vincent started, jerking his thumb over his shoulder to indicate the cuts on his back, "Qualifies me for at least one guilt free punch, kick, or tail slap."

Tenten didn't respond, not wanting to let him know how low she was on weapons. He was amazing when it came to dodging, and miss or not that fireball was intense. It seemed to have weakened him considerably though, given how hard he was panting; she needed to end this before he got another one of them off. Reaching into her pouches, she grabbed the scrolls for the most powerful technique she knew; one that she had made herself.

"Soushouryuu!", she cried, bringing out the scrolls and tearing them opened. They erupted in smoke, and the next thing Vincent saw was Tenten suspended in the air between a double helix made of the scrolls. Then, the unsealing and throwing began.

"Oh fucking hell..."

Vincent saw the way of weapons incoming and had a feeling he wasn't going to get away in time... which meant this was going to hurt.

_**Stop running and FIGHT!**_

Blood's voice sent fire through Vincent's veins and numbed the ache in his limbs; he hadn't understood how draining that fireball had been until now. The oncoming storm seemed to slow to a halt, and though his body followed suit, his mind was far from slowed.

He launched himself forward and up, doing something that would have never crossed the mind of most ninja; he stepped on the blades being thrown at him while they whistled through the air. They provided little lift or stability, but there were so many that his ascent went without issue. The revelry inside him was deafening as he neared Tenten, who seemed to be desperate to hit the hybrid. Vincent flipped over a cloud of shuriken and bounded off and kama, rotating in the air to give his tail more momentum. He felt a satisfying thump as his tail struck her gut, tearing her from the helix of ammunitions and throwing her to the side.

Time's flow returned to normal as Vincent fell, landing in a crouched position to avoid falling flat on his face; all the while he watched Tenten sail forth, eventually crashing into a wall. She had luckily been going down for most of her fall, so once the initial impact was over she only had a few feet separating her from the ground.

"Oh come on!", Vincent groaned, seeing her right herself. Part of him was still thrilled that the battle wasn't over though.

"I'm not(cough)... don't yet...", she shouted, obviously trying to hide the fact she was winded.

"Don't make me end this fight like an Incubus.", Vincent asked of her, recalling what he and Blood had spoken of a few nights prior regarding Incubus abilities. It had been started when Blood had suggested Kin's irritation might have come from sexual frustration. Awkward did not even begin to describe it...

"Don't...(cough)... don't think you're getting out of this just cause you got one hit in!", she shouted, charging forward with a katana in hand; it was her last weapon, at least until she could get to the scrolls behind Vincent. She could hear Lee's warning shouts and the ruckus of the arena in general, but she focused on the man before her, making her approach careful, if a little fast.

"I'm not responsible for what happens then.", Vincent warned, just loud enough to pierce the din of the room. He readied himself for what he was about to do.

When Tenten neared, she feinted left and took a quick swing at Vincent's shoulder; she wasn't ready for her blade to be blocked by his tail and almost jump from her hands. The appendage parried her blow and knocked the blade from her hand while Vincent stepped in for what she thought was some kind of riposte.

She was not prepared for him to lean her backwards and kiss her. Before she could truly register what was happening, she started feeling amazingly tired; the world was fading to black, and the last thing she saw were the apologetic, dual-color eyes of Vincent.

"And... unconscious.", Vincent sighed, standing up with Tenten limp in his arm. "Right... Can the Medics get out here?", He called, shooting a glance over his shoulder at Hayate. The whole room had gone dead silent.

"Winner...Vincent!", Hayate shouted, a little concerned that Tenten was dead. "Is she... still alive?"

"Of course. You don't call the medics if someone's dead, you call a mortician.", Vincent replied, gently setting Tenten on the stretcher the med ninja brought in. "She's suffering from exhaustion; physical and chakra.", he whispered, to one of the medics. She nodded and carried the stretcher off with the help of her partner.

Vincent nodded at Hayate as he walked by, going up the nearest stairs. There were still a few matches left, and he wanted to relax a bit.

"Next match will be Kankuro Suna versus Tsurugi Misumi. There will be a ten minute break to clean up the weapons.", Hayate announced, leaving the floor to allow the "janitors" to collect the weapons.

"Nocutisu-san, may I speak with you for a moment?", a half-way familiar voice called from Vincent's left. He opened his eyes and looked over, somewhat surprised to see Lee's sensei standing there... Gai-something.

"Of course.", Vincent replied, smiling as amicably as possible. He spied Neji and Lee standing nearby, paying close attention to the conversation.

"What exactly did you do to Tenten? As her sensei I'm concerned for her safety, and the method was... rather unyouthful by my standards.", Gai said, arms folded. A few others nearby were listening as well, though they were trying to hide it.

"Oh it's nothing that would cause any permanent harm.", Vincent replied, wanting to see how hard Gai would press.

"That's good to hear, but it doesn't answer my question."

"Well, I kissed her. You should really use your eyes, Gai-san.", Vincent replied, not letting his slip up show; Vincent shouldn't know Gai's name.

"I don't think I introduced myself.", the response was fairly blunt, "And Tenten is no delicate flower; no matter how youthful a kiss can be, it wouldn't knock her out."

"We've met before, in passing.", Vincent replied, "And as for the kiss, it was one of my... abilities, so to speak."

"I think I'd recall meeting someone of your physical nature.", Gai remarked, not budging. "Are you referring to some kind of kekkei genkai, by any chance?"

"Kekkei genkai are somethings humans worry about. If I look human then there's something wrong here.", Vincent responded with a shrug, continuing a moment later. "I'm part Incubus, so I can drain the energy of a woman through a kiss or... other methods, which are best left behind closed doors. The drain is fairly large, apparently, but Tenten won't be truly harmed by it. It may take her a week or so to properly recover from the chakra exhaustion it caused, but beyond that...", Vincent shrugged. "It's not like a cast a spell over her or something."

"It is relieving to hear that it's just chakra exhaustion; it wouldn't have been foolish to think you had slipped her poison through that contact.", Gai replied, Still not shifted, "However, now I am curious about something else entirely: When, exactly, did you and I meet?"

"Not too long ago, to be honest. I'd love to explain it, but I really don't have the energy; Tenten knew what she was doing.", Vincent praised, scratching his cheek sheepishly. Those cuts on his back had healed slightly from the drain, but they still stung like hell. "I'm sure that you could find a moment or two to ask the Hokage about our meeting; just tell him that we met before the first exam if he doesn't seem to remember me telling him about it. You seemed to be in a hurry, which may be why you don't remember; then again, I was wearing something a little less… revealing, which could have been a factor."

"I think I'll ask him about that then, when I get the opportunity.", Gai muttered, nodding, "Thank you, Nocutisu-san."

"My pleasure. Do give Tenten my regards; it was an excellent fight."

_**That was terrible. You need to practice your magic until you can use it without starting to fade out afterwards. Either that or we need to get you a weapon with some range to it.**_

"I don't know, Tenten's method worked fairly well.", Vincent muttered, watching them pick up the weapons on the floor, "I just don't know how she kept all those weapons in two pouches."

_**Can you throw with accuracy?**_

"..."

_**Dammit. Looks like I get to send the imps to find me a decent weapon for you then.**_

"Thank you, Lord Blood.", Vincent replied, still speaking softly; no one was listening, as the next match had started.

_**Don't thank me yet, Hound. You're not getting it until you kill at least one pseudodemon. Not convert it to my army, but **_**kill****_ it. Do that with your bare hands, and you'll be worthy of the weapon I'll gift you with._**

"...Noted."

_**Good. Now pay attention to the remaining matches and then return to the mansion. You need to begin channeling practice to increase your pools of mana.**_

Vincent nodded and turned his attention to the battle below. The thought of upcoming battles brought forth a fire within him, and it numbed that pain in his back.

He just couldn't wait.

**]_'/}0{\'_[**

* * *

><p>There's chapter 2, my most freaky of darlings; hope you enjoyed it. It did start to strain after a little bit, and I'm still not that great at fight scenes, but to reiterate what was said in Aria of the Moonless Night... Ninja battles may be flashy, but they don't last very long all things considered, and a lot of shit happens in a small window of time.<p>

**Also, because there were a few issues with the previous poll, it's been updated and re-posted... meaning you have to go vote again. Please re-read the options, as some have been changed around.**

Ja Ne, my Freaky darlings!


	4. Meetings and Reunions

Hail, my most Freaky of Darlings!

This will be a slightly more laid back chapter in that I'm just setting up for the finals(which may or may not be next chapter; haven't decided yet). I'm just trying to take my time with this story so I don't rush it.

* * *

><p><span>]_'}0{\'_[

**_Is there anything in particular you want to know?_**

"I've been alive in this body for a few days now, and you told me the only way to figure out what had survived the proverbial blender was to experiment; you didn't tell me how to do that though.", Vincent replied, sitting on the pillow that rested before the altar.

He had discovered the basement to have a sort of cellar floor, with a more dungeon-esque set of floors below it. The first level was simply a set of four rooms, all empty, save for the one Vincent was now using. He had ask Blood how to properly make an altar for him, and the Hell-King responded by, as he put it, giving Vincent a little piece of hell within the walls of that room.

The floor was now covered in some reddish grass, and the entire room was lit by a light that was tinged with amethyst, though the source was unknown. The walls had sprouted several exotic looking plants that released an amazingly beautiful fragrance for something that was supposed to be from hell, and the ceiling had become covered in some sort of ivy; Vincent saw small growths coming off of some of the leaves, possibly the start of fruit. The only thing that made the room a little more "Hellish" in his eyes was the altar before him; made of what looked to be Obsidian with some silvery material spider-webbing through it and bearing sharp edges and spikes it seemed to fit the King of Hell. Impaled into the altar was a greatsword, wrapped in spiked chains that connected to the four corners of said altar.

**_Exactly that; experiment. I do not care to know your body inside and out, so I cannot guide you in what to try._**

"Could you at least give me what is possible?"

**_In terms of what, pray tell?_**

"Am I randomly going to shoot lasers out of my ass?"

**_No, but it can be arranged._**

"Let's not and say we did...", Vincent replied, shuddering slightly. He was slightly wary of questioning the deity further, but he didn't want to burn down the house by mistake. "What do I breathe, exactly? Dragons do breathe fire, right?"

**_In your case, no. Green dragons breathe clouds of highly corrosive gas. If you want to try you're going to have to get some water in your lungs._**

"That sounds remarkably like drowning."

**_You can breathe underwater, you twit; I know that much survived your rebirth._**

"What, do I have gills or something?"

**_Your body is saturated with magic and other-worldly energies; you don't need gills. Your lungs will just let you breathe underwater; the water will turn to the acid gas, and then you just breathe it out. If you intend to use it in battle, I suggest carrying a lot of water with you._**

"Good to know.", Vincent replied, restraining his other question.

"Vincent! Someone's at the door!", Kin shouted from upstairs, only heard by the hybrid due to the sensitivity of his canine ears.

"Bloody hell...", Vincent muttered, inclining his head to the altar before standing and leaving to deal with whatever Kin didn't feel like dealing with herself. He gave her the benefit of the doubt though; were he in her position, he wouldn't open many doors for strangers either.

The walk toward the door was somehow more uneventful than he would have normally thought possible, passing through the floors with only enough haste not to seem rude. Vincent saw Kin rounding a corner in the opposite direction once he reached the ground floor, but a knock from the hallway leading to the front door stopped him from following her; he shook the puzzling thought from his head as he moved at a slightly brisker pace. Why would he want to follow Kin anyway?

"Ah, Good Afternoon.", Vincent greeted, opening the door. "I take it this isn't a social visit, Sarutobi-sama?"

"Unfortunately, no. We need to question Kin before Orochimaru actually begins to do anything.", the aging Kage replied, hiding how exhausted he was. The aura that surrounded this house was absolutely oppressive.

"Agreed. Please, go wait outside the gate; it's a lot easier to breathe there.", Vincent suggested, "I'll go get Kin."

"Fair enough. Do not be long Vincent."

With that the Kage turned and Vincent shut the door, sighing when it clicked into place.

"Kin is not going to be happy about this.", He muttered, shaking his head. "Where does she sleep?"

He knew she stayed close to him for protections sake, choosing one of the third floor rooms as her own, but he had never asked which one specifically. Given that she tended to wake up before him as well kept him from hiding in the shadows and waiting to find out.

Perhaps it was a lucky break that let Vincent hear the muffled complaints coming from behind one of the doors of the third floor; a bedroom that was separated from his own by a single door. A bit closer than he had imagined, all things considered, but not outside of reason.

The arguments they got into in the short time they had lived together tended to end with an accidentally intimate position or an easily misinterpreted sentence; either tended to throw the two of them off their respective offensives and into an awkward silence.

Vincent shook himself from his thoughts and reached to open the door, knowing better than to keep Sarutobi waiting with something of this importance.

"Kin, we're going to get the questioning over wi-"

The silence and stillness that took over Vincent could only be described as that of an Incubus seeing his first set of breasts. He wasn't entirely sure why Kin didn't have a shirt or a bra on, or why she stood in only panties while appearing to struggling with some voluminous bit of clothing, but he was exceptionally sure that he'd die a horrible death if she noticed him.. She hadn't heard him over her own cursing, apparently; Vincent was fairly sure she'd be throwing shit at him if she realized he was standing their enjoying the view.

"Need help?", he asked out of some deep seated reflex, despite the obvious repercussions. Maybe it was an Incubus thing... not being able to keep one's mouth shut when there's a smart ass comment to be made.

Kin froze, color coming to most of her body as she slowly turned her head towards the door. There was a moment of frozen silence as she regarded the hybrid with a look of disbelief. Then came the "standard" response of a woman caught bare-chested by her male housemate: She grabbed the closest item and lobbed it at him.

"Pervert!"

Unfortunately for the sake of driving Vincent off, she had grabbed the small pile of clothes that had been sitting on the edge of her bed; most of them had either fallen before getting close to him or simply hadn't been grabbed. The two or three the actually reached him didn't carry enough weight to make him flinch, let alone vacate. Something had gotten hooked on the horns of Vincent's headband, however, and he watched Kin turn a whole new shade of red from his unobstructed right eye as he reached up to dislodge it.

He had been expecting a tee-shirt or maybe a haori, not a black bra.

"G-get your hands off of that!", Kin shouted, lurching towards Vincent to grab the bra from his hands, though there were two main problems with her plan: She reached forward with an arm that wasn't there since the other was busy clutching that black and red fabric to her chest in an attempt to cover herself, and the fact that her haste made her trip over the clothes she had thrown at Vincent a moment prior. Predictably, this ended with Kin crashing into Vincent's chest, though both somehow maintained their balance. Neither moved, but neither fell.

"You know, you have really soft breasts.", was all that came to Vincent's mind, and it heavily supported his theory on Incubi.

"...Why...are you...in...my _fucking_ room?", Kin asked, not looking at the hybrid. She had dropped the robe she had been trying to put on, and if she stepped away she'd be a lot more _visible_ than she was right now.

"Sarutobi showed up; we're getting the whole questioning thing out of the way. Y'know, before Orochimaru storms in here with his army of bondage slaves, or whatever that strange man is planning.", Vincent replied nonchalantly, getting Kin to try and fail to hide her laughter. "You laughed, I'm off the hook."

"Only if I don't nail you in the balls in a moment..."

"Ah, but if you do that, my face will pretty much end up in your breasts."

"...Shut up... f-fucking pervert..."

"I'm not the one standing shirtless against- oh, wait. Nevermind.", Vincent almost facepalmed; if Blood was watching, he was probably laughing his ass off right now.

"...Can you just close your eyes and get the fuck out?"

"Judging from the rampant swearing you need some help. What the fuck were you trying to put on anyway?"

"...Lord Blood told me that I should wear a robe that denotes my position as one of his followers when I leave here. He said he had transported one tailored for me onto my bed and that I should go put it on. Didn't say anything else."

"I repeat: Do you need help?", Vincent asked, carefully picking up the robe with his tail. The material seemed thick, but not overly heavy.

"...I can do it myself..."

"All things considered, we have about a minute left before Sarutobi starts getting annoyed. For the sake of not pissing off a Hokage, let's just skip the awkward bit and get you dressed.", Vincent suggested, hoisting the robe into view.

"You're just saying that to see my chest you perverted-"

"Already saw it. Liked it. I'd love to see the rest of you-"

"E-excuse me!"

"-Now, however, we're running on a tight schedule, so let me help you get that robe on so we can get this over with."

"No, what did you just-"

"Kin, I swear to Blood if you don't start cooperating I will kiss you, dress your exhausted ass, and then carry you over my shoulder to Konoha."

"Why did that sound like a form of rape?"

"...Kin..."

"...Can you at least close your eyes?"

"Yes, because I'm sure you'll be much more comfortable with me helping you dress by feeling the robe onto your body."

"P-pervert!"

"It was your idea, not mine.", Vincent reminded her, poking the side of her head. "Now come on, I don't feel like having a Hokage irritated when this is already uncomfortable for all parties involved."

"...If you tell anyone about this, I will castrate you.", Kin muttered, stepping back. She was a little surprised the Vincent seemed more intent on lining up robe properly than looking at her.

"There we go...", he muttered, getting ready to slip it over her head.

"W-wait..."

"What now?", Vincent asked, patience wearing thin.

"I'm not going without a bra.", Kin replied, again turning red.

"...Alright, do you need help with that too, or can you do it in under a minute?", Vincent replied, aware of some heat in his own cheeks.

"...it's not rocket science..."

"Is it a form of "not rocket science" that can be done faster with two hands?"

Kin looked a little hurt by the question, but quickly covered it with a glare.

"Just shut up and hook the damn thing if you're in such a rush. It's the black one that...", she stalled, not wanting to actually say she had thrown it at him.

"Right.", was the simply reply, Vincent's tail bringing the black cloth to his hands. He hadn't meant to hurt Kin's apparently fragile feelings with the question, but the clock was ticking. It wasn't overly hard to get the bra onto Kin, though she took a moment to readjust both it and her breasts to make it more comfortable as Vincent lined up the robe again. "Anything else?"

"Just put the damn robe on."

"Hauling you over my shoulder is becoming more attractive by the minute."

]_'/}0{\'_[

"What kept you two? I was about to start throwing rocks.", Sarutobi asked, motioning to stones that would have probably knocked out a bear.

"Religious stuff.", Vincent replied, keeping his face straight. Kin was trying not to think of the incident so she wouldn't blush.

"Religious 'stuff'?", Sarutobi asked, motioning to calm down the two anbu that had come with him as Vincent and Kin neared. "That doesn't sound very official."

"Yet so much simpler than describing what we were asked to do.", Vincent replied, making sure to say it in a way that wasn't lying directly.

"We'll have plenty of time on the way to Konoha.", Sarutobi remarked, turning towards the exit of the valley. Vincent ignored the implication.

"Can you keep up in the robe or do you want me to carry you?", Vincent asked, turning to Kin. The robe actually fit her quite nicely, and went down the point of almost dusting the ground. The sleeves were rather large and, in much the same fashion, covered most of her hand. Her right shoulder bore the top of a sash that linked to the one around her waist, the purpose of which was more than likely to help cover her stump. Then again, as hers was the only robe he had seen, Vincent supposed it was possible it was standard issue. The black robe itself, with all it's crimson details and designs, made for a fairly awesome "standard issue" though.

"...Just shut up and carry me."

Vincent could have sworn he heard Sarutobi mutter something as he picked Kin up bridal style, but then again it could have been the breeze that constantly rolled through the valley.

"Let's get going; I have some theories about breathing underwater that I'd like to test.", Vincent sighed, taking off when Sarutobi did.

"Why does that sound like drowning?"

"Long story."

The journey was taken at a leisurely pace; now that they were actually underway there wasn't as much of a rush. They weren't going at a civilian's pace by any means though.

"Hey, Sarutobi.", Vincent called, getting the old man's attention. "Out of sheer curiosity, how did the other kage take it when I came into the running?"

"Surprisingly well. All things considered, only the Kazekage had teams still in the exams after the forest, and the minor villages tend to stay quiet after a decision by one of the major nations. From what I understand, the Tsuchikage had to return to his village due to a nearby sighting of a powerful nuke-nin. His teams and jounin are still here for the most part, but that left the Kazekage as the only one who could honestly voice any dissent."

"Good to know. Is there anyone here that's losing their mind?"

"A few, mostly on the council. I'm sure there are plenty more on the streets, mind you.", Sarutobi replied. "The Shinobi half of the council is interested in you; enough to let you continue on as you are before making a fuss one way or another. The Civilian half of the council, who are representatives of certain sectors of Konoha, is a little more concerned."

"I take it walking around Konoha without a shirt has just sent them into a frenzy?", Vincent joked, getting a chuckle from Sarutobi.

"Nothing quite so serious. I've explained your situation to the council as a whole, leaving out the fact you used to be Naruto to all but the Shinobi council.", Sarutobi returned, sighing, "They're concerned more or less on more... dare I say, human matters. To put it simply, you're not human and you've made it clear you're going to spread a religion that holds the King of Hell in its "deity" position. Not something that sounds good to a group of civilians who think hell is a very bad place."

"Hell itself isn't bad. The Pit is where you go to be tormented for whatever "sins" you commit.", Vincent explained, remembering what Blood had told him. "Normally after the punishment is done, you just get reincarnated and come back; followers of Blood can choose to stay in Hell for as long as they like after death."

"You're going to have to be more convincing than that if you want people to believe you.", Sarutobi suggested, shaking his head. "If your slogan is going to be 'Welcome to Hell; it's a dry heat!', you're not going to get anyone to believe you."

"Well, I've always been better at doing than talking.", Vincent replied, shaking his head. "When I get a free hand I'll give you one of the Hellhound Amulets. Lord Blood can probably explain things better than I can."

"Thank you for the offer, but I'll be fine with your explanations.", Sarutobi said, shaking his head.

"You've been a Shinobi most of your life; you're going to hell.", Vincent replied bluntly. "That, and let's be honest, you're probably not going to be around much longer. You should really look into a deity that will watch out for you in hell... by some definition of the phrase."

"..."

"Just a suggestion. What's the worst that could come of holding an amulet and praying with it?", Vincent asked, shrugging.

"Vincent-kun, I appreciate the concern, but I do not think I need the assistance of some demonic guardian whose existence has yet to be totally proven to me."

"I would appreciate it if you took this more seriously. This is your soul we're talking about.", Vincent shot back, noting Kin's failed attempted at hiding her annoyance.

"Lord Blood is real.", She muttered, just loud enough to catch Sarutobi's ear.

"I have a village to lead and an attack to prepare for; I don't have time to play pretend.", Sarutobi replied calmly.

"I would watch what you say about Lord Blood; he doesn't have a great deal of power in our world, but he can still control minor happenstance and make your day relatively... unpleasant.", Vincent warned, "He proved his existence to Kin by dropping shit on me."

"Pardon me?"

"Let's see... he hit me with a light fixture twice and then dropped some ceiling tile on me, right?", Vincent asked, looking down at Kin.

"I also asked him to drop the rest of the roof on you, but he said he needed you relatively unharmed.", Kin replied, making the hybrid shake his head.

"See what I have to put up with?"

"What was that you furry bastard?", Kin shouted, elbowing Vincent in the chest.

Sarutobi couldn't help but wonder if a certain level of mental instability was a requirement for this religion. After being a shinobi for as many years as he had, it was just difficult to put any amount of trust into something as intangible as religion; he wouldn't deny others their faith and comfort, but he simply couldn't partake. It wasn't in his nature.

"We're not far from the village." Sarutobi commented, "Don't kill each other before we arrive."

"No promises.", Vincent and Kin replied in unison, making the old kage chuckle to himself.

]_'/}0{\'_[

"Not many people willingly come back here, you know." Anko commented, looking Vincent up and down. She had to admit, he looked damn good for a… whatever the hell he was. Now that she didn't have an irate Kage throwing down time limits, Anko was enjoying the view.

"What can I say, my hand was forced." Vincent replied, keeping his eyes focused on the small window that let him see into the interrogation room. "The company is admittedly better this time."

"Well you're not sitting in that chair this time." Anko replied, shrugging. "I don't think Ibiki has ever been this gentle. A special request, perhaps?"

"Part of the agreement I made with Kin; she gets off light if she willingly speaks. I'm not surprised they brought in a Yamanaka, honestly, and I told her to expect that." Vincent sighed, rolling his shoulders. "So, would you be interested in giving me five minutes of your time to talk about the Lord Blood?"

"Oh Kami… I could have sworn you weren't the religious type..." Anko sighed, "I guess nobody's perfect. No, I don't wanna hear about whatever shrooms you took to see this wondrous deity."

"What if I told you he's the King of Hell, and that you don't have to take shrooms to contact him?" Vincent asked, sighing a moment later as he pulled an amulet from his pocket. "You'll have to forgive me; I'm new to this whole conversion thing. Just take this amulet and open your heart."

"Are you going to keep talking about this and bugging me until I do?" Anko asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Technically speaking I'm under contract."

"Right; Since I can't leave, and since I really don't feel like dealing with a religious nutcase for the next several hours…" Anko took the amulet by the chain and took a moment to inspect it, turning it this way and that. "Kinda cool-looking if nothing else."

"Go ahead and keep it either way. Maybe Blood will prove his existence instead of just talking." Vincent remarked, muttering the last part under his breath.

_**I'll take care of this one.**_

Vincent kept his eyes on Kin as the Yamanaka readied his jutsu, trusting Blood to either give Anko a sign now or later. The HellHound might warp his words, but he didn't lie.

The rest of the interrogation—which consisted of the Yamanaka verifying the information Kin had provided—went by relatively fast, though the worry that clawed at Vincent made it seem like an eternity. It was his word on the line, after all, and for some reason it seemed almost life-threatening. When Kin was finally allow to stand up from the chair, with Blood confirming she was undamaged aside from some mental fatigue, Vincent felt a great weight being lifted from his shoulders.

"Thank you for your cooperation." Sarutobi said, addressing both Kin and Vincent. "Vincent, I will be summoning you within the week to discuss what we've learned. Normally a genin wouldn't be privy to such things, but all things considered you're a special case."

"I can't promise anything, but I will do what I can." Vincent replied; Sarutobi might not have put any faith into Blood, but the power was still present. A few spells into enemy ranks might be enough to tip the scales if things went south. "If that is all…?"

"It's all that I need you two for at the moment. I'll have my Anbu escort you back." Sarutobi said, pausing for a moment as he remembered something. "Oh, and your request has been granted. Your guests will be arriving close to five. Kakashi has been warned to arrive on time, though he's been given the same information as the others; lateness won't be an issue."

"Perfect; you have my thanks." Vincent replied through a smile, bowing a moment later. "Are you ready Kin?"

"Don't expect me to be sociable, you crazy bastard."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Vincent replied with a smile, dodging the punch the girl threw at him. One armed or not, she still knew how to throw a punch that did some legit damage.

]_'/}0{\'_[

"Why in the hell would this freaky….guy know anything about Naruto's death?" Kiba asked as the rookie nine approached the Mansion that stood in the middle of nowhere. His irritation masked his sorrow; everyone had their own mask, though Kiba's stood as the loudest. With the Nine was Gai's team, assigned as an escort for Hinata by the Hyuuga clan; Tenten was there as well, though she was far from full recovery.

"Things aren't always as they appear in the world of ninja; there are connections that people would never make, and many are never discovered." Kakashi replied, book away for once, "I don't know why this Vincento would know anything, but the Hokage himself has said that this man knows _something_. Quite frankly, something would not be unappreciated."

Kakashi spared a glance at Sasuke and Sakura, who seemed more downtrodden than the rest. Sasuke had a bandage over his eyes and a stick in his hand, though Sakura was still leading him mostly. She was, for the most part, healed in the physical sense if nothing else. Her mental state was rather fragile, and Kakashi didn't blame her for dropping out of the ninja program; Death was something that only a select few could truly cope with.

"Did he tell you anything else?"

"Kiba-san, please watch your tongue." Kakashi replied calmly, sensing the unnatural aura that cloaked the house. "Gai-san, would you be so kind as to knock? I've never really been one for knocking on a stranger's door."

In a rare display of silence, Gai nodded and knocked on the gate, not trusting the aura. Even out here he could feel it sapping his strength ever-so-slightly. The knock was unexpectedly loud, perhaps amplified by the silence of the valley itself, and Gai stepped back after the third resounding boom sounded.

A full minute passed before they heard the sound of footsteps approaching the gate, and it wasn't long thereafter that the gates creaked open, revealing Vincent in his now "normal" attire.

"Good evening everyone. I appreciate all of you coming out here on such short notice." Vincent greeted. "You'll have to pardon the wait, I was otherwise occupied and I'm still not overly accustomed to navigating this blasted manor."

"It's quite alright, Nocutisu-san." Gai replied, cutting off Kiba's smart remark.

"Ah, Gai-san, I wasn't expecting you… or your team…" Vincent remarked, looking over the genin. "No hard feelings, Mizuhara-san?" Vincent asked, directing his attention to Tenten with a smile.

"I do believe you have business that doesn't involve taunting Gai's students.", Kakashi interjected, stepping forward. Vincent's smile widened, eyes betraying how bemused he was.

"Yes, I do indeed. Still, following your life according to plan leaves no surprises to capitalize on, which is dull." Vincent replied, compiling words in his head. "I'm afraid you'll have to give me a moment to properly word this invitation, otherwise the aura I have surrounding the manor may kill you before we reach the door. Precautions and all that."

"Wait, what?", Chouji asked, mid-chip.

"I, Vincent Noctis, hereby invite Kakashi Hatake, Kurenai Yuuhi, Asuma Sarutobi, Maito Guy, and their students into my home."

"… And…that's it?", Asuma asked, fiddling with a pack of cigarettes. He didn't feel like he had known Naruto well enough to have been invited, and it was bothering him that he had to be there.

"With any luck, yes. Anyone want to go first?", Vincent asked, stepping to the side and motioning inside. No one moved. "Right… Should I just bring chairs out here then?"

"It is a nice day out…" Kurenai replied, not entirely trusting a few words to dispel the aura since she still felt it. The hybrid sighed, tail swishing; it was quite the sight.

"Right… this might take some time. _Unless I can invoke the King of Hell's power to summon chairs?"_ Vincent asked Blood mentally, stirring the King from whatever distraction had grabbed his attention.

_**You could, but I doubt they'd be overly comfortable. Most things you summon under my name are rather… spiky.**_

"Duly noted." Vincent said aloud, turning and walking towards the manor. It took a small matter of time to move the number of chairs outside, and Vincent wasn't fond of the thought of having to move them back in, but it was best to keep his guests comfortable while he explained the death of their friend.

"Forgive the skepticism, but a ninja's best friend is caution." Kakashi apologized, rather impressed by Vincent's physical strength; some of these chairs were amazingly heavy, probably not made to be moved once placed, yet he moved them with ease.

"That it is, but I do believe we have something to discuss." Vincent replied, sitting down on the armchair he had brought for himself. "The final hours of the life of one Naruto Uzumaki."

Whatever good feeling remained in the air was suddenly choked out by that statement. Vincent shifted, getting comfortable; this was either going to be a shit-storm or a convert-fest.

"The hokage has given me permission to disclose an S-class secret or three regarding Naruto's life and death, but know that no such permission transfers to you; if you pass on any of this information, you will be executed." Vincent began, lacing his fingers under his chin. "I also ask that you hear me out; if something doesn't seem to make any sense, I will provide what proof I can, but many things in this world cannot be explained by mere words. Now then, the last thing that Sakura and Sasuke remember is most likely a painfully bright and colorful explosion, yes?"

"H-how did you…?" Sakura began, silencing herself a moment later.

"It was a technique called the Chaos Hammer; very potent, but a bit too much for Naruto to properly control. Then again, half of it's intent is to be uncontrollable." Vincent muttered to himself, continuing a moment later, "Naruto got a single use of the technique as a sort of trial. If he passed, then it meant survival. If he failed, death awaited him."

"Then he failed?" Kurenai asked, seeing no one else would.

"Actually he passed with flying colors… literally. Naruto successfully preformed the Chaos Hammer, killing the sound genin—save for a girl whose arm it tore off, who he rescued a moment later—instantly, blinding Sasuke, and knocking Sakura out cold. The drain knocked Naruto out as well, though he came to in time to see the destruction he had wrought. It scared him, honestly, but power in a very interesting concept in and of itself."

Vincent paused for a moment, judging Sasuke's facial reaction. It looked like the boy was wrestling with something.

"Might makes right. Without power you cannot protect anything, let alone yourself. And to that end he made a deal with a demon." Vincent watched the Jounin tense, unable to stop the bemused grin stretch his lips. "You see, Naruto was a very special child… within the seal on his stomach was the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the great pseudodemon who tore through Konoha years ago, sealed by the Yondaime at the cost of this soul to a Shinigami. This beast is what made Naruto the ostracized youth that he was, but even its power, which gave him the strength to survive in all other situations, couldn't compare to the demon with which he made a pact with."

"Something beyond the Kyuubi?" Asuma asked, leaning forward.

"The King of Hell, specifically." Vincent replied, bringing his tail around to rest in his lap. "It was a very interesting deal, all things considered. After all, Naruto's body had taken extreme damage, and he was going to die anyway."

"But you said he passed the test!" Hinata shouted, surprising everyone with the tearful outburst.

"Blood Hounduar killed the body known as Naruto Uzumaki, taking the soul contained within an building a new body for it; a body that would allow our soul to better serve as Blood's first Hound in this world." Vincent replied, teeth showing through the smile. Kakashi surprised him by standing with a glare that could kill.

"You expect me to believe that? I did not come here to have my student's memory sullied."

"I can't make you believe me, Kakashi-san, but I will provide proof if you ask for it." Vincent replied, standing as well. "Keeping in mind you're talking to a man with a dragon's tail and wolf-ears; I think an open mind would benefit you."

"What is the creed I told Naruto on the second genin exam?"

"Those who abandon their mission are trash, but those who abandon their Comrades are worse than trash."

"Who did I tell Naruto he had the potential to be like?"

"Your sensei. You never told me who it was."

"What page of Icha Icha Paradise did I show him when he asked what I was reading?"

"Page… actually I can't answer that. All I remember is a decent amount of text on one page, and a threesome on the other page. If memory serves… I think I just woke up a few minutes later with a bit of dried blood on my face." Vincent shook his head, wiping under his nose to remove blood that wasn't there. "If it weren't hypocritical to call you a pervert, I'd be doing so right now."

"Naruto wasn't a pervert."

"True, but he also wasn't part Incubus. It bugs me, but it's not hard to get over once you accept it as a part of you."

"None of the information you said is infallible proof."

"Then ask better questions." Vincent shot back.

"What is the first and last thing I called Naruto?" Sasuke asked, "looking" straight at Vincent. His voice had shattered the tense silence. "If you can tell me, I'll believe you."

"Tch, you've been calling him dobe since the beginning of time." Kiba interrupted, getting a round of glares. Vincent didn't even acknowledge it.

"Brother."

"... Figures that you'd lose control of an attack." Sasuke responded, relaxing.

"Tch, you try controlling a concentrated burst of chaos and see where you go with it, bastard."

"Woah, woah, hold up! What the hell? You're gonna believe him just like that?" Kiba asked, not believing the situation.

"He answered my question; I have my proof. If you need some, ask for it." Sasuke replied.

"Fine; what...um…who…?" Kiba paused, unable to think of a legit question.

"So troublesome… why do I play chess?" Shikamaru asked, resting his chin in his hand.

"Wow… that was a long time ago." Vincent muttered, sitting back down. "You hated games like that cause you always had them forced on you by your dad. I made you play once when we were both kids in the academy, and I beat you. Next day you challenged me again, and again, and then… I guess you just got kinda hooked when you actually found enjoyment in it."

"My vote now goes for this guy being Naruto reincarnated." Shikamaru added, sitting back into his chair.

_**I'm going to summon amulets for them. Get them to put them on, and I will show them Naruto's final moments. They will hear your thoughts and my words through it.**_

And without further warning a fair number of amulets appeared, floating in the center of the chair ring; it was almost amusing to see everyone jump.

"Right… good news, the god I follow is willing to show you all the last hours of Naruto's life. You just have to put on these amulets." Vincent sighed, standing up. He took a few and began handing them out; Sasuke and Shikamaru put theirs on without hesitation, their courage inspiring the other genin. The jounin were more hesitant, but put theirs on nonetheless. Soon only Kakashi remained without one. "If it's a trap, everyone is screwed anyway. If it's a genjustu… well, just take out that eye of yours."

"Just… give me the damn amulet."

_**Get ready. This is going to be a hell of a trip.**_

Blood's voice tore through the air, reaching the ears of all those assembled thanks to the amulets. The power in his voice made the jounin all but jump out of their seats, battle ready. Before they could react in earnest though, their world went black.

Vincent could only guess what Blood was showing them, but he had a feeling that it was sort of like an out-of-body cinema; everyone was seeming zoned out, sitting or standing with blank looks on their faces while Blood played the "reel". Dubbing the effort of divining the actions of a deity as a waste of time, Vincent resigned himself to sitting back in his chair to contemplate himself.

_**Take your time; it will take about an hour and a half if you don't want me to cause their brains to explode.**_

"That would be nice."

_**There are more productive methods to create Zombies as it is.**_

"Wait, zombies are real?"

_**You're asking a Hell-King, as an amalgamation of mythic blood yourself, if zombies are real?**_

"I'm sorry, it sounded like a legit question to me."

_**Please tell you're not going to be this dense for the entirety of your service. I'd hate to incinerate my first hound from this world in a fit of annoyance.**_

"Forget I asked…"

Vincent shifted his weight and left Blood to his own devices, not wanting to tempt the King's ire. If nothing else, the concept of zombies was interesting. It probably had something to do with magic, which was far more interesting to Vincent. Combining ancient words for the sake of producing powerful affects was a very interesting concept in and of itself.

Knowing he had a while, and not having had that time earlier, Vincent sat down and closed his eyes, focusing on finding his "core" as Blood had called it. A vision of a glowing sphere came to mind quickly, representing Vincent's reservoir of magical energy; Vincent wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to go about expanding this intangible sphere, but that was part of the training he supposed.

]_'/}0{\'_[

"They seemed a lot more open after that little trance."

"The power of a Deity is a powerful thing, Jiraiya-san." Vincent replied, turning to face the Sannin as he put the last chair back into place. "You experienced it earlier, remember?"

"Yes, I do. I'm not that old gaki." He replied, sitting down. "I don't know how much help I'm going to be if you're going to focus on magic and whatever else Blood is going to teach you."

"For the most part, I just need some help with hand-to-hand combat. Instinct is wonderful, but some help would be nice."

"I'm not going to be able to do much more than the basics. I don't know how your body works, so the more advanced stuff might be counterproductive." Jiraiya shrugged, looking over Vincent for a moment. "I'm going to say that your need to focus on dodging though."

Vincent nodded and sat down as well, bringing his tail around to examine.

"The tail also alters your balance; the main reason I probably can't teach you much past the basics. A bit of a blessing and a curse, really; most ninja don't know how to deal with a tail and four limbs attacking them." Jiraiya remarked, tapping his chin.

"One can only hope."

"Hope is a powerful thing; one can say the same thing about faith.", Jiraiya muttered the last part, standing as he did so. "I'll see you tomorrow morning at the hotsprings. I want to test a theory that I have about your magic. Try to get some rest."

"What's the theory?"

"You'll see. Just make sure you've got the energy for tomorrow's training."

And with that the Sannin was off, leaving the Hybrid to his own devices.

Vincent tapped a claw against the table, half annoyed with the answer, half intrigued. Any knowledge and training would be a boon at this point, even if the latter had to be altered slightly later, but the way Jiraiya presented it was beyond annoying.

_**I suggest you go to sleep. I'm sending a succubus into your dream to instruct you on some of your demonic powers while I manage Hell. And no, she is not being sent there for the sexual powers. You can research those on your own time.**_

Sleep sounded almost like a waste of time for some reason, but Vincent knew better than to argue with the King of Hell of all people. If nothing else there was a reward waiting for him, and it might be something that would help him in the finals.

"…One can only hope."

* * *

><p>Sorry for the long wait, again. Things have been weird as all fuck recently. I'm moving and going to college soon, so shit will be weirder. Brace thine-selves. Also, I've ACTUALLY begun working on something original. Like legit writing it instead of planning and drawing the characters.<p>

Yeah… anyway, I hope the end was rushed to the point of being terribad, but I wanted to get something out before this story died in a fire.

I hope all of you have a great day, and if any of you happen to see GraveMaven in Dungeon Fighter Online, feel free to run a dungeon with me… just whisper me with "Hey Hector" or something mentioning my pen name so I know not to auto-reject it… I'm paranoid about that sometimes.

So… farewell, my Freaky Darlings. I hope that it's not an eternity between now and the next update


	5. Sunset before Sunrise

Here's the next chapter of BM:R my most freaky of Darlings.

Damn it's been a while; I'm truly sorry for that darlings. I'll be trying to write more, but no promises with my second year of college starting up. Even then, I'm going to make a rule to have two pages done a day, for at least one of my stories… keeping in mind I'm focusing on this and OaKaaLD mostly. If you like yuri and more "Interaction" than fighting, go check it out; it's a pretty good read from what I'm told(and, you know, I wrote it so it has to be good)

Also, oh ye Freaky Darlings of mine, I ask that you pay thanks to Yuri-Hime-Chan for yelling at me to get off my lazy ass and back to writing. I had been complaining about writer's block and hadn't been doing much; turns out all I needed was a boot to the ass and to push through the first bit to get the creative juices flowing... or whatever the hell you want to call them. Anyway, thank Yuri-Hime-Chan. For those of you who like OaKaaLD, that chapter is coming next.

Without further ado, let's kick some ass! Metaphorically.

* * *

><p><strong>]_'}0{\'_[**

Vincent let the burning breath escape his lips, watching with rapt attention as it slowed down to the crawl of a truly foul miasma, leaving bare earth in its wake when thick grass had once been there. He almost wanted to reach out and touch the earth, but Blood had told him to remain stationary, practicing two things at once.

First was his breath weapon; the powerful acid of a green dragon. It was the third breath he had unleashed, and while the range seemed limited it was still a potent thing in and of itself. Keeping water in his lungs was no different from keeping air within; something told him that it was part of the magic in his veins that kept him from dying. He could breathe normally and even speak with his lungs filled with water, and controlling when the acid clouds came out was surprisingly easy. Controlling what the miasma did once out of his mouth was a different matter entirely, and his half-melted pants were proof enough of that.

All in all, Vincent was slightly more interested in the second focus: Basic Channeling.

Blood had told Vincent that the basic form of channeling was designed to help oneself to expand their pools of mana; a slow process compared to more advanced forms, but it didn't run the risk of having the practitioner explode. It could be done without really thinking about it once started, allowing for meditation or things like Breath Weapon Practice to be possible, but it required a complete lack of motion in most of one's body.

It was with those instructions—for Vincent to meditate on his existence, as well as practice his breath and magic—that Blood seemingly vanished. His power was still present to the hound, an eternally burning sun compared to Vincent's own might, but it was obvious to Vincent that the King's attention was elsewhere. After all, it had been a good twenty four hours since a snarky comment had rang through his mind.

"_He could have been more specific. My existence?"_ The hybrid mentally muttered, rifling over the idea. _"Was he telling me to think about what I am? I know he called me an impossibility at one point. Wait, why am I impossible?"_

It was an odd thought, he realized. What exactly made his genetic makeup so… impossible? Especiallysince he actually existed.

"_Is it the whole incubus-archon-dragon thing? What's so weird about that?"_ Vincent expelled another breath of acid, pondering that question as the gas quickly ate through the nearby grass.

"Pondering the mysteries of life?"

Vincent jumped, coughing out a few clouds before doubling over in pain; he could feel his mana arguing with the sudden jump.

"Jiraiya… If I were more confident in my abilities I would try to kill you right now…" Vincent spat, wiping acid from his lips. He was glad that his flesh was immune to the acid, though Jiraiya seemed rather impressed by the green smog.

"So what did you eat?" the Sannin asked, eyeing the damage the gas was doing to the earth.

"I'm not going to gratify that with a response…" Vincent replied, spitting to clear the taste from his mouth. "Do you want something?"

"Yeah. You didn't show up to our little training session, so I came to find you."

"Ah… I got sidetracked."

"I can see that. Are you ready to go?"

"Ready enough. I would appreciate slightly more warning next time; that was painful." Vincent replied stoically.

"If you can't handle a little bit of pain then you really shouldn't be a ninja."

"Jira-"

"I'm honestly amazed that you were able to beat Tenten; she did knick you with a few weapons, and I was simply stunned that you didn't fall to the ground, wailing in agony."

Vincent felt his eye twitch as his ire rose, bubbling up from within his core. He could tell there were wisps of the acid snaking out of his slightly bared teeth like smoke.

"I'll have you know-"

"That you're a scrawny bishi with no pain tolerance, yeah I got that much from Sarutobi."

"Cut me off one more time and so help me Blood I will-"

"What, bitch at me?", Jiraiya baited, stepping fluidly out of the way of Vincent's tail; the hybrid wasn't terribly fast, perhaps mid chuunin speed if Jiraiya had to put a level to it, but the rush of air came more from the force of the swing over the speed.

Vincent wasn't sure what exactly happened, but he had literally felt something snap inside of him; the world seemed to be tinted green, though Jiraiya seemed to glow slightly white, and all he could seem to think of was cackling with glee as he tore out the old man's organs and replacing them with acidic clouds.

"You're going to have to move faster than that if you want to hit me." Jiraiya casually remarked, ducking and weaving through Vincent's assault; his fury seemed to have reduced him to violently lashing out with claws and his tail more than anything.

"Hold still!"

"How about no?"

Vincent dropped and tried to sweep Jiraiya's legs out from under him, letting a disturbingly gleeful smile spread across his face as the old man jumped over the leg and right into the path of his raised tail. When the sound of a dragon's tail smacking wood rang out over the area, the smile vanished.

"You're going to have to work on that anger; if you're that easy to piss off then any shinobi with a brain will take advantage of it in an instant." Jiraiya remarked from behind Vincent, fully expecting the boy to whirl around and attack. Apparently this was going to be like teaching the Yondaime all over again.

]_'/}0{\'_[

Vincent groaned as he opened his eyes, doing his best to figure out why half of his body was under the impression it had been hit by a train. He used a combination of willpower and his tail to pull himself up into a sitting position, grabbing his head when the motion inspired a spike of pain.

"Oh, you're finally awake." Kin remarked, looking up from a book. She sat at a table across from Vincent's bed, the large tome spread open and set to a page that Vincent couldn't see.

"What happened?"

"You got knocked the fuck out."

]_'/}0{\'_[

"Why the hell did you see fit to knock me out?" Vincent asked, standing at the edge of the water near Jiraiya. They had planned to meet at the hotsprings, and Vincent was glad to see they weren't actually in the springs.

"Mostly to see how short your fuse is and what could set you off; letting an enemy get you angry is a good way to give them an opening to kill you." Jiraiya replied calmly, standing on the steaming pool. "I suppose it's not a bad idea to mention you have the makings of a berserker, but generally they don't last long in the ninja world."

"A berserker being…?"

"A bit more complicated than what it sounds like. Not many people can actually bring themselves into an actual battle-frenzy; they can get mad, but they can't get the same level of raging strength and endurance that a true berserker would. Still, it would be better for you to retain control during combat; few battles were won with anger." Jiraiya explained, folding his arms. "Now, I'm sorry for whatever pain was caused earlier, but it was something I can't test if you realize that's what I'm doing."

"I… am sorry I was trying to kill you. I guess being able to pound genin into the ground doesn't hold much weight against a Sannin though."

"Not really, but hopefully I'll be able to fix that. I can't do much with jutsu, since you intend to focus on you magic, but I have a feeling that it functions like chakra."

"What makes you think that?"

Jiraiya chuckled, running through some handsigns slow enough that Vincent could take them in. Vincent braced himself for a jutsu, but nothing seemed to happen.

"Now then, what are the words for that fireball that you used in the preliminaries? Sarutobi told me it was quite impressive." Jiraiya asked, smirking. Vincent took a moment before he answered, making sure not to bring magic to the words, though they made his body tingle slightly with their saying.

"Stylii wyhudrni whuyli drnii tyehugoraimymy eraty chunknidr drnii ziean dry niefiyst. It means, Burst forth from the darkness to light the way to havoc."

"Great! I'm not even going to try to pronounce any of that. Now, what is similar between what we just did?"

Vincent raised an eyebrow, folding his arms over his chest and thinking. Magic and jutsu were technically very different; chakra was the combined magic of the mind and body, while mana was the representation of one's mental energy. Magic, using one's mental energy, required an incantation of ancient words to call forth one's mana into a usable force outside one's mind. Language, he supposed, was the way a mind could convey it's thoughts into the real world; quite fitting.

Jutsu used chakra, and handsigns shaped said chakra into whatever form was needed. Being part physical energy, the physical motion made sense in terms of shaping the chakra.

"So… in essence we both just did an incantation for our techniques. Our raw energy has to be shaped—even if the method is different—before it can be used."

"Exactly. What I want to test is whether or not you can simply manipulate your mana without words, or if you'll have to find an incantation for things like water walking."

"One way to find out."

Vincent had a feeling this was going to result in something bad, but he stepped to the edge of the pool and took a breath. Moving mana to a particular part of one's body was akin to trying to control the flow of one's blood, at least in the expected sensation.

Slowly, he put a foot onto the water, not entirely surprised by the heat or how quickly his foot sank in.

"The idea is to make a disc of sorts; like a water-strider that doesn't break the surface tension of a pond." Jiraiya instructed, taking a step back in case Vincent fell in.

The knowledge was helpful, though either he wasn't making the disc wide enough or something was just being done wrong. Every time Vincent put weight on his foot it would sink like nothing was there, and it was starting to frustrate him.

"I don't suppose you could make another incantation for this?" Jiraiya asked, having sat down once he saw this would take a while.

"I don't know if I can do that, but I feel like this could work; the mana is just reacting weird with the water."

"Well maybe it's less about making something to stand on and more willing yourself to stand on water. Mana is about mental energy right? Willpower?"

"Maybe…"

Vincent shook the water from his leg and took a moment to ponder the concept. Could he alter some property of the water? Or maybe it was as simple as willing himself to stand on the water? Then again, he wasn't entirely sure what his willpower would be going against; the water, gravity, or the knowledge that he should be sinking if he tried to stand on water.

Impulse drove his step before logic could halt his motion; his mind locked onto a single thought, and as his feet rested on the surface of the water a floodgate broke in his mind.

"Un huiviistdr. I reject."

Vincent reveled in the thought, taking confident steps on the water. It opened his mind to what could be possible with magic; the rejection of what the world would see as fact and logic. Only ninja can walk on water, and only then with chakra. No, Vincent could as well. It would take far more willpower, perhaps, to do something more magnificent, but as it stood he found it surprisingly easy to rest his feet atop the pool once he grasped the concept.

"Good; this means we might be able to work on a few other things too. Still, I'll be teaching you more than this; someone has to show you how to fight ninja and at least have some semblance of stealth." Jiraiya remarked, adding a moment later, "Now, let's see how you do on water that isn't so stable."

With that, he chucked what looked to be a burning piece of paper into the pool, not flinching at all when a small column of water shot up above the explosion.

Vincent found the waves were difficult to maintain his balance on; his magic, in essence, was letting him treat the water as solid ground. In much the same way as it's difficult to stand during a particularly severe earthquake, the waves made it almost painfully difficult to remain standing. Flailing arms and a tail helped him stay on his feet, though Vincent felt a constant drain on his reserves of mana while he willed himself to remain above the waves.

"Not bad. You look a bit tired though; is it draining?" Jiraiya asked, stepping out onto the water and walking out to his apprentice.

"Not when the water is still; as soon as it starts moving it starts to drain pretty fast. Rejecting the fact that I should sink isn't really draining, until the water starts moving like… well, water."

"Good to know; we'll work on that more then. Having you practice this should build up your reserves then."

Vincent nodded, wondering if he could sit and preform the mana expansion meditation while simultaneously staying afloat. It would definitely expand his pools of mana, though he hoped that having to stay still wouldn't make him sink under. Then again, he could apparently breathe underwater, so it wouldn't be as bad as one would initially think.

"Are we going to practice this more or is that it for the day?" Vincent asked, realizing that between the earlier fight and the waves, he was decently tired.

"Since you didn't come earlier, this is enough for the day. Head on home and get ready for training tomorrow; we'll be doing it at your home, but I still want you up and moving by noon." Jiraiya waved dismissively, walking off with a ponderous expression. "Oh, and make sure to keep me in the loop about any weird hell powers you have; I'm already going to have to alter everything I teach you so I don't need any last minute curveballs."

"I'll make sure to let you know as I find them; I know of a few, but the information is limited on most. I'll tell you what I can tomorrow." Vincent replied, slowly leaving the pool. It would take some time and practice before he was comfortable running on the water, as well as practice with maintaining his balance on waves, but it was possible and that's all Vincent really needed at this point.

The walk home was spent in silent wonder as the Hound tried to figure out how the words had come from his mouth in whatever tongue spells were cast in. He certainly didn't know the words for "I Reject" prior to saying them. Were they revealed to him as they became relevant, or as he became ready for them? Or perhaps there were all instinctively known to him, and he just hadn't realized it yet.

Even then, finding the proper combination to form a spell was going to be difficult, and he seriously doubted anyone was going to just give him a spell incantation. Then again, he doubted anyone here would know one.

The incantations were interesting; from what the succubus had told him the night before, the longer the incantation, the more focused and powerful the spell, though it made it more draining as well. Generally speaking they were often almost poetic, though the more powerful spells were often difficult to say quietly, escalating into a shout near the end.

Maybe he just needed to find an effect he wanted, and then try to form the words around it instead of randomly choosing artsy sentences out of an entire language and hoping for an effect. Still, he couldn't fathom what he wanted to do with magic; maybe make a counterpart to some jutsu?

Such a thing could be dangerous, he realized. With the wrong words and a clone jutsu he might end up cutting himself in half, or creating an uncontrolled explosion out of what was supposed to be a focused missile.

Actually…

"Tenten Mizuhara… you might have just given me an idea." Vincent muttered, running along the ground toward his home as opposed to the branches of trees. "Something that doesn't miss, something small and focused… an accurate kunai? No, that doesn't sound right. Unerring… unerring is much better.

Arrow was also much better than kunai in his opinion. Unerring Arrow. But what would it really do? Summon an arrow that wouldn't miss, but without a means of launching it?

"By Blood this is hard…" Vincent muttered, unable to stop himself from running through all the possible ways an incantation could go wrong. How "Burst forth from the darkness to light the way to havoc" worked was beyond him. Then again, maybe it was so draining and destructive because it was loosely worded; maybe he could add more to the incantation to make it work differently.

How was a question he didn't have an answer to; it was only by knowing beforehand that the incantation was for a fireball that he would associate the full incantation with something like fireball. Maybe he'd ask Kin what she thought about it; if nothing else it'd be another point of view.

Vincent jumped over a bush, sailing through the air for a bit due to his momentum. It brought his mind to another topic, namely what his tutor had told him about his powers as an Incubus. As a whole he liked what he had heard, but it was another list of things added to the mountain of things he had to practice; still, if the tutor's words rang true than it wouldn't take that much effort.

Telepathy, a teleportation technique, the ability to perform something called an ethereal jaunt, the power to sense a creature's intentions and general nature, and the ability to summon a type of demon from Hell known as a Vrock. Bel'tharia, his tutor, had seen fit to show him what a Vrock was in the dream, showing him what looked to be a cross between a large human and a huge vulture; strong sinewy limbs covered in grey feathers, a long neck topped with a twisted vulture's head, and vast feathered wings. All in all it was a relatively monstrous creature, and Vincent wasn't overly sure he wanted to summon one anytime soon.

The most interesting power, at least to Vincent, was the Suggestion. Bel'tharia explained it as functioning like a geas—something she had to explain as well, given Vincent's lack of knowledge of spells—in that it basically planted a command in a target's mind that was difficult to resist. It was perhaps more powerful than the Lesser Geas, though the fact that the order could be resisted placed it under the Greater Geas, also known as the Quest Geas. Unlike the Geas spells though, the target could be ordered into self-harm, though it was through these orders that the suggestion was more likely to break. Bel'tharia hadn't gone into great detail with the Suggestion, but she had quickly explained it as bringing mana to your mouth and throat while speaking, or to your eyes if you intended to give a command through telepathy.

Unfortunately the Suggestion wouldn't hold on a target for more than two days, and carried no penalty for resistance like the Geas spells did. At the same time, barring one being terribly blunt in the orders, it was generally harder to notice and thus actively resist.

The other thing that had been gone over with at least some explanation was telepathy, which had been described to him as sort of aiming your thoughts at someone; it created a bridge of sorts for two creatures to communicate with their thoughts, or with pictures and sensations if they so choose. Ending it was apparently as simple as having to "stop thinking at the target".

The first thing he had been shown in greater detail was the teleportation; obviously in a dream it was hard to practice and have the effort carry over to the real world, but Vincent was confident enough that he decided to attempt a small one while he ran. It was simple in concept, though not necessarily in practice; you had to visualize yourself at your destination, in essence willing yourself to be there. It had limited range for even the strongest Incubi and Succubi, roughly fifty feet, but that was often enough to dodge an attack or get some breathing room.

The sensation was odd at best and nauseating at worst; it was though his body had moved but most of his internal organs got slammed against his spine during the motion in the attempt to stay where he had been. He ground to a stop and let his stomach calm down before he turned around to see how far he had jumped, seeing about thirty feet between where he had been and where the skids started; not a bad first attempt, though it would still take some time and effort to get used to the sensation. He didn't think that it would be a good idea to use this particular power in the finals unless he was totally over the nausea, given the window that the opponent would have to attack.

"Maybe I should try Suggestion during the finals, get that Gaara kid to forfit the match. He messed that Oto genin up with that sand…" Vincent muttered, starting to build up to a running pace again. He had been thinking about ways to get around that sand barrier of his; the oto genin had a small advantage, but it was lost as soon as his whistling kunai were shattered by the sand. Projectiles were moot point, and he doubted he was fast enough to beat the sand's speed in melee combat. Not to mention the sheer bloodlust the kid had—it was to the point where it seemed inhuman.

Vincent stopped in his tracks, eyes widening slightly.

"_Lord Blood, can you hear me?"_

_**Yes, yes I can. What do you need Hound?**_

"_My mission is to kill pseudodemons, right? That's one of the main things?"_

**_Yes. They are the pretenders; often times they are primal spirits that have become corrupt, or merely mortals who have risen to power who have been tainted by the evil of the Abyss—the realm that I locked at the core of Hell when I unified the circles. The darkness of the heart, the true evil of this world and all others, comes from that vile realm._ **

"_How will I know when I meet a pseudodemon?"_

_**You don't have the sight yet, but soon you will simply be able to tell; you will see a human for a human, a demon for a demon, and a pseudodemon for whatever warped creature it really is. For now, when something seems wholly unnatural, it is most likely a sign of a Psuedodemon. And before you ask, not all is what it seems with the child named Gaara. A human like you, a vessel for a pretender sealed by those too weak to kill it.**_

"_The Bijou and their Jinchuuriki are Pseudodemons then?"_

_**No, only the ones you call the Bijou. Make no mistake that the Jinchuuriki have the potential to become a Pseudodemon as well, but only slightly more so than a normal mortal. I will not sanction the act of slaying Gaara to kill the beast, but I know little of your human seals and thus little of how to kill the prisoner without destroying the jail.**_

"_Well by that analogy I should be trying to take the prisoner out of the jail."_

_**That would be the best option, but I do not know of a spell that wouldn't potentially kill Gaara as well. Your seals are finicky at best and each is different. How do you unseal something from a scroll, like the Mizuhara girl did?**_

"_Chakra. You have to use an equal amount of chakra to unseal something—equal to the amount used to seal the object, that is. I remember that much from the Academy. I can't use chakra anymore though."_

_**Could you disrupt the seal?**_

"_The unsealing of a Bijou kills the Jinchuuriki. Sarutobi told me when I asked about having the Kyuubi removed when I found out about it. Disrupting the seal would probably have the same result."_

The king was silent for a time, carefully thinking about the problem. Gaara's actions, while quite hell-worthy, were a direct result of the Ichibi. As it stood, the child's nature wasn't inherently evil and if the Ichibi could be removed soon, and without killing the child, Gaara stood a good chance of being able to attain some level of redemption before death. Provided with the right guidance, of course.

_**Your claws, and any other attack you make with your body, are empowered with the magic of Hell. With the proper incantation, you might be able to sever the pseudodemon's soul with a physical strike without causing any harm to Gaara; the power will still be there, but the pseudodemon's consciousness will take on a wisp form outside Gaara's body, which you will be able to send to hell by praying to me while it's in your grasp. It's a theory at best, but most likely death occurs when the power of the bijou rushes out, leaving a void that the human "collapses" around. Normally I'd leave this as a trial for you, but I'm more interested in seeing you can manage with the proper incantation. Besides, I need to see about getting incantations that affect the seals of your world.**_

"_Thank you, Lord Blood. Will it knock Gaara out or am I going to have to deal with him while I'm banishing the Bijou in him? And will it resist?"_

"_Yes, Lord Blood. It shall be done."_

**]_'/}0{\'_[**

"Okay, what the hell are you doing?" Kin asked, having been watching the Hound fumble with what looked like lines of poetry on paper over the course of dinner, "I swear if you're trying to seduce me with crappy poetry-"

"I'm trying to make a new spell actually." Vincent cut off whatever death threat she had for him this time, looking up from his paper with a sigh and a raised brow, "Why are you always assuming I'm trying to get in your pants?"

"Maybe because I'm constantly being reminded you're a sexy demon or whatever the hell it's called. Isn't that what they do?" Kin asked, giving a deadpan glare as took a drink.

"Sexy demon?"

Kin's immediate response was to start choking on her water, getting more than a little on the table in her attempt to swallow and start shouting.

"Sex! I said SEX!"

"No, you said sexy."

"Well I fucking meant sex! Do you hear me asshat?! S-E-X!"

"You know, out of context the shouting almost makes it seem like you're coming on to me." Vincent replied, giving a grin worthy of an incubus, "Why Kin, I didn't know you felt that way about me! And here I thought we had a purely professional relationship."

"I will spike your juice with Holy water."

"I'm pretty sure that would just delude the juice…"

"You know what? I'm done with the technicalities and you getting out of my threats. Yes Vincent, I'm going to fucking delude your juice and watch you suffer as you never again taste the full flavor of your morning beverage."

"That might actually be the most serious threat I've ever faced."

"Give me some time and I'll think up a better one."

"I kinda figured that's what you did with your free time; I mean, thanks for cleaning the house and cooking, but I really don't know if I can see you doing much with your time other than trying to come up with death threats for when I walk into your line of sight." Vincent deadpanned.

"Yeah, because I have nothing better to do than think about you all day." Kin deadpanned, "I'll have you know I've been spending most of my "free time" split between reading and learning to live with one arm since your dumbass blew it off!"

"To be fair I still feel really bad about that, but you were fucking trying to kill me!"

"Didn't you fucking off yourself so you could turn into the whole dragon-dog-sexy demon thing?!"

"You fucking did the Sexy Demon thing again!"

"Don't change the topic, and you're just hearing shit you perverted bastard!"

"Once maybe, but you've done that twice in the past two minutes; the hell Kin?"

"I said don't change the topic!"

"Isn't this what we were just talking about?!"

"Oh fuck this; I'm done!" Kin shouted standing up fast enough to knock her chair over. Vincent watched her storm off, a string of curses masking loud footfalls.

"The…fuck just happened?" Vincent asked the air, trying to figure out what the hell led to that. He was tempted to just take his paper and pencil and head back to his room, but there were a few problems with that plan that he didn't feel like leaving as triggers for shit to go down; first and foremost being that he'd be passing Kin's room to get to his, and he had no intention of starting a shit-storm if her door was open and she was in the mood for round two.

Second was the mess on the table, both from dinner and from Kin almost choking. With a sigh Vincent let his pencil rest on the table while he gathered up the plates and took them to the sink, washing them silently while he tried to wrap his mind around what happened.

**]_'/}0{\'_[**

Kin lay in her bed, glaring at the ceiling out of the hope that she wouldn't have to think about anything but being mad for the night.

"It's not my fault he's an ass." She repeated for the umpteenth time.

It had pretty much been her motto since she had gotten back to her room; Kin was at the point of being more annoyed with herself than Vincent though, and the motto was perhaps the only thing keeping her from thinking about things that would only annoy her more.

When she was honest with herself, she wasn't exactly sure how to feel about Vincent. For all intents and purposes she was still rightly pissed that he had blown her arm off, but at the same time Vincent made it really hard to hate him—the fact he couldn't keep his mouth shut when there was a smartass comment to be made aside, that is. Ultimately, she _had_ been trying to kill him; between her and her teammates, his team had been beaten bloody. It wasn't anything personal; just a combination of orders and how the second exam played out. It was odd for starters that he was willing to just move past that.

At first she thought Vincent was being nice because he felt guilty that the blast hadn't killed her and had left her weak; just a way to get someone to believe in Blood and get a little weight off of his conscience. It was an annoying thought to her, but a hell of a lot better than what Orochimaru would do to her if he found she was caught and betrayed information. Free room and board wasn't a bad deal either.

Vincent was basically the nicest person she had ever met, and certainly the only one to show her so much kindness; she knew that he and the Hokage were good friends, but he had still put a lot of risk by promising her safety—she had realized as much when Blood explained that it was a binding contract due to the fact Vincent couldn't lie. Again, for a small time she had attributed it to guilt, but he didn't coddle her enough for it to be purely guilt.

Guilt was getting her to safety, and the kindness was giving her room once she was safe. He legitimately cared about her wellbeing; for a small time she thought it was an act because he was an incubus and wanted to seduce her or something, but she had seen how men had looked at her when they wanted her.

Vincent… didn't look at her like that; the only time that he had the chance to see her shirtless was when he helped her with her robe, and even then he was respectful as possible given the circumstances. It was still an annoying memory, but interesting in the fact that he could have done a lot more. He could have looked more instead of focusing on helping her dress; he could have popped more than one feel instead of almost avoiding her skin so she wouldn't freak as much.

Sure, he was an ass at least once a day, but other than that he was nice and almost charming. She didn't particularly want to admit it, and certainly not to him, but Vincent sexy without trying as well. Distractingly so at times, as it happened.

Kin rolled over and sighed, her mind having wandered exactly where she didn't want it to.

"Fucker needs to hug me or something." She muttered, annoyed. Vincent was, at least so far and by the standards she set before her temper scared most men away, a good man. It had hardly been a week since they met, and it was confusing her that she was starting to catch feelings for him. She generally tried to write it off as some weird demon-sex-aura, but if that was the case then Kin was pretty sure she'd be thinking more about bedding him then just getting hugged or something…not sexual.

"Fucking….fucker."

Kin sighed again, sitting up and shaking her head; it was getting late and she didn't particularly want to go to bed mad or confused. A moment of contemplation saw her plan come together; get a shower, hop in the nice little hot spring that this mansion had, then come back and read more of the book Blood had sent her about Hell. It was a pretty big tome and more than a little rambling in its descriptions, but it was incredibly interesting.

She grabbed her bathrobe—something she had found when she claimed the room, old but it fit well once she had washed it—and headed off to the bathroom. It was oddly designed, as were the two or three others she had seen, but at the same time she could understand the layout given the fact that a clan used to live in the mansion.

In essence there was a row of doors on either side of the blue tiled floor, the etched stone between them separating them from floor to ceiling, while the doors were made of some odd material, feeling like stone and weighing about as much as wood. The doors themselves were etches like the walls, with intricate patterns spreading across their surfaces. Beyond each door was basically a small bathroom all its own; a toilet, a sink and mirror, and a glass-door shower with a nice little multi-spray head. Each miniature bathroom was roughly six-by-six, with the shower in the corner and the sink and toilet on either side of it.

Kin shut the door behind her and locked it, hanging the robe on the hook and turning to face the shower. It was big enough to move around in, though she supposed Vincent would have issues with his tail; for her and any regular sized human it was perfect though. Two small bottles of shampoo and conditioner sat on the shelf in the shower beside a razor; all things she had claimed from the "care package" that the Sandaime had sent over so that Vincent wouldn't have to go shopping right away.

Her clothes had also been part of that care package; since Vincent was apparently banned from wearing shirts, Kin had claimed them in the name of not letting them go to waste, and there had been pants for both of them as well, though the sizing was a bit off on both counts. Given that Blood had sent Vincent a healthy supply of the hakama and gloves that made up the majority of his outfits, most of the pants had ended up in her closet as well.

She tried not to think of how long it took her to get out of her clothes compared to how long it used to take, instead focusing on just getting into the shower, getting the day off of her, and getting into the hotspring.

Smartass, confusion-inducing demon aside, life was pretty good here.

**]_'/}0{\'_[**

"And… done." Vincent said with a smile, having gone from simply cleaning the dishes and the table to cleaning up the pots and pans Kin had used to cook as well. She normally shooed him off and cleaned everything after dinner, but given that she stormed off they had been left sitting there.

Vincent wasn't incredibly sure why she felt the need to clean everything; maybe as some sort of "rent payment" or maybe just because she saw he was usually out training and didn't exactly have the cleanest style of living when he was in the house. Then again if the latter was true he was pretty sure she would have said something; Kin wasn't exactly the kind of woman to keep something to herself if it bothered her.

Kin, in general, confused him more than other women did. Sometimes it was like she hated every fiber of his being, other times they were just housemates or friends even, and other times they had little moments where there were almost… close.

Vincent shook his head and left the kitchen, thinking about taking a dip in the hotspring for a bit. From his understanding it was actually heated and filtered by a series of seals, where were apparently the Namikaze clan's specialty. There were a couple of "tubs" in the hotspring, each one a pool roughly fifteen feet across; there was a door to each one after a small hallway, and each door had a lock on it, though they looked decently old.

Ever using training as an excuse, Vincent intended to lie in the water to get accustomed to breathing underwater, beginning his mana expansion training again once he got comfortable on the smooth stone at the bottom of the pool.

He considered trying to teleport to his room, but he had been cautioned against teleporting through solid objects. As he went up the stairs and got to his room, he tried to prepare himself; breathing underwater still went against what his brain told him was common sense, even though his body had no issues doing so. He grabbed his robe and paused for a moment, half wondering if he even really needed it; his clothes were clean since he had changed after he got out of the shower, and he was intending the just get in the pool naked since he could just lock the door.

"So that was a wasted trip upstairs." Vincent muttered, heading down the stairs and towards the hotspring. Neither door was locked and peeking in showed that Kin wasn't in either, so he amused himself by trying to flip a coin mentally without rigging the result; failing as predicted, he went into the left door and shut it behind him with his tail.

He undid the sash holding his hakama up, throwing both bits of clothing on one of the benches against the wall. Vincent took a moment to stretch before he got into the water, knowing he'd be lying still for a while.

The water itself was a good temperature, its heat bothering him for only a minute as he stepped first onto the bench that rested below the water's surface, then onto the floor of the pool itself. It was about five feet deep at its center, and as Vincent submerged himself he saw plenty of room at the bottom to lie down. He got comfortable on his side and rested his back against the front of the ledge that made up the aforementioned bench, taking a moment before he forced himself to start breathing.

Breathing water was more noticeable than air; it just felt like there was more filling up his lungs as he inhaled and more leaving as he exhaled. There had been bubbles for the first few breaths, but one he was full of water they had stopped.

Once he was nice and calm while breathing, he began to channel his mana, the motion forcing his inner pools to increase at a snail's pace. The expansion and practice would help in some of the more advanced practices though, according to Blood, and so Vincent gladly suffered through.

It was really comfortable actually; the feeling of water surrounding him felt amazingly natural, and he felt somehow safe beneath the gently rippling surface as it slowly became still. Part of him felt like this is what green dragons did in their free time, resting beneath the surface of water, seeming invisible, until prey wandered by.

Of course, he wasn't waiting for prey, he was just waiting until he felt like it was time to get out of the pool, at which point he'd probably head straight to bed. Part of him wanted to try and set it up so that Kin would walk in so he could jump out of the seemingly empty pool and scare her, but the section of his brain associated with common sense told him this would end badly. As is castration badly.

Above and beyond it causing him a great deal of pain from breaking his channeling if it were to somehow happen in the next few minutes, he didn't particularly want to scare her. Kin was… dear to him, he decided. She was the only girl who had ever given him the time of day and that was willing to talk to him on the regular basis; more importantly, she didn't see him for what he appeared to be.

She didn't see a twisted hybrid as much as she saw Vincent. He knew she occasionally stared at his tail and ears, and probably his body in general as well, but she didn't look at him like he was a freak. Like pretty much everyone else did. Even the rookie 9, once his closest friends, now looked at him like a monster. Maybe they had good reason to when Vincent had replaced their beloved Naruto. Even Sarutobi regarded him differently.

Kin though… Kin at least looked him in the eye. She wasn't scared of him on some level. It made him feel normal, for at least a time, and he wanted to hold on to that feeling, to her. Vincent was well aware it was foolish and possessive on a sort of creepy level, but there were times he felt like Kin was his. His to protect, to feel guilt over, to live with, to annoy, maybe even to love. He had spent enough time thinking about this to know it was probably just the fact he was living with someone who was relatively nice to him after a whole life pretty much spent alone, but it didn't make him feel any less strongly. Vincent just wanted Kin to be able to get over her arm and live a happy life; maybe it was selfish to want to be the one making her happy, but it was an indulgence he allowed himself in private.

It had been less than a week though, he reminded himself; he shouldn't be getting so hung up on her when then really didn't know each other that well, and especially not when he didn't know how she felt about him.

Vincent sighed, his breath coming out at little more than a jet of water. He listened to the house settle a little as the night grew on, wondering how well he could hear from under the water. As if on cue he heard a click that sounded amazingly like a door shutting; it must have been Kin getting into the other hotspring room. He let his eyes drift shut, relatively amazed by how well he could hear what was going on; it sounded like she threw whatever clothing she had onto a bench like he did, probably putting on a towel and about to get into the water.

His eyes snapped open when the water in his pool was disturbed, and he was stunned into having them open for a few seconds longer than intended before he managed to slam them shut. Vincent concentrated, trying to end the channeling but knowing it would take at least a few minutes. Getting out without Kin knowing he was in the pool would be rough though; the doors made enough noise that Kin would hear, and he couldn't teleport without noise being made from the water rushing to fill the spot where he had been.

Vincent was pretty sure the only reason Kin got into the pool was the fact that she couldn't see him; the odd camouflage that green dragons produced, coupled with the steam, was probably keeping him invisible, as long as she stayed on that side of the pool and he didn't move.

He had a feeling that he couldn't ask Blood for help without him alerting Kin as well, not to mention it would probably be of more amusement to the King to rat him out. He could wait until she left, but even with his level of self-restraint he'd be severely tested to keep his eyes shut. Kin could also decide to float around a little, increasing her chances of bumping into him.

Theoretically, he might be able to talk his way out of this if he did it right. Time to test out his telepathy.

"_Testing my telepathy powers, don't freak."_ He thought, directing it at Kin; he felt the water jump for a moment, though he also felt her sit back down after a moment.

"_Give me some warning next time… Fucker. Wait, I just think back and it goes to you, right?"_

"_Seems to be working. Hello Kin."_

"_Hello Vincent." _ Kin deadpanned, sounding annoyed in her head. _"Did you need something, or did you just want to make me jump?"_

"_Well I do have a favor to ask, yes."_

"_I'm in the hotsprings Vincent, trying to relax. The hell do you want?"_

"_Well, I need you to not freak out."_

"_Okay, fine, just tell me what you need and get out of my head."_

"_Well that was sort of the favor…"_

"_The hell are you…Oh hell no… you're in the pool aren't you?!"_ With that, Vincent felt a small disturbance in the water hit him as Kin all but slammed her knees together and most likely tried to cover herself, meaning she was probably naked too.

"_I'm lying at the bottom, I thought I locked the door, and I shut my eyes after you got in."_

"_AFTER?! How much _after _are we talking about?"_

"_Umm… long enough to know that you shave. I doubt it's any comfort but I couldn't see above the water."_

"_Vincent, everything that I would normally kill you for seeing without my permission is under water right now." _Kin replied, her mental voice icily calm yet obviously containing a fury rivaled only by the desire to cause the hybrid intense pain.

"_Your breasts were above water when I shut my eyes… or I was looking elsewhere… Look, not the point! I don't want to die, I don't think you want to kill me over an honest mistake, and I'm willing to forget this happened and everything I saw if you let me get out of the pool unharmed in a minute."_

"_In a minute?!"_

"_I was doing the channeling practice! I can't just up and move quite yet or I'll double over and be stuck here even longer!"_

"_So I'm supposed to sit here while you could be staring at me for another minute?!"_

"_You could get up and go to the other pool."_

"_And let you see even more?! Hell no!"_

"_Kin, I won't open my eyes, and they aren't open now. You know I can't lie."_

"_I don't care, I don't trust you right now!"_

"_The hell do you want me to do then?! I'm stuck under here for at least another minute, and I'm just as fucking exposed as you, only I don't have the ability to cover myself! And before you jump and say, "well how do you know if you didn't look!?", I felt the water disturbance and I'm pretty damn sure that's what you were doing. Could be wrong, but still."_

"_Wait, you're naked?"_

Vincent wasn't entirely sure what he was looking at in his mind, but he was fairly sure none of the mental pictures were from his mind. He had been getting a few here and there as Kin mentally yelled at him, most likely unintentional additions from her mind, but none this… vivid. Or of him, for that matter.

"_What am I looking at right now?"_

"_Oh…fuck. Did you… Did you see what I was thinking?"_

"_That depends… were you trying to figure out if you could dip your head underwater without me knowing or were you having a mental picture of my laying on your bed naked? Because I saw both."_

"_I'm… just going to go drown myself in the other pool now."_

Despite that statement Kin made no effort to get out of the pool, though Vincent had a feeling she was currently trying to hide her face with her free hand. This was quite frankly the most awkward situation they had been in thus far.

"For the sake of not making myself look like an ass anymore, can you hear me like this?" Kin asked, speaking out loud.

"_Yeah, but I still have to be in your head to talk, which means I'm still going to get the picture shows if you do more thinking than answering. Sorry. It's taking longer to end the channel than I thought… probably because I'm freaking out."_

"_Great. Why the hell are you freaking out, you're not the one who's naked… oh, right. Sorry. Least I can't see you well through the steam and water."_

"_It's a small comfort. I wish I could say the same but my vision is clear as hell down here; eyes are still shut though!"_

"_Enough, I believe you. Just… promise me you're going to do some weird magic and forget this ever happened."_

"_I'd rather not; you've got a beautiful body."_

The thought came out before Vincent had time to censor it, and he felt surprise from Kin through their connection.

"What?" she said aloud, a little taken aback.

"…_Well looks that was mine turn to be screwed by the telepathy thing. Hey look, a distraction!"_

"That only works when you can point and then run away, Mr. I-can't-move-yet! What did you say? Or think… whatever, just answer me."

Vincent felt the last of the channeling finish and he took the opportunity to slowly rise, not yet trusting quick movements. He exhaled deeply on the way up, taking in as much as possible when his head broke the surface. Kin was probably still covering herself, but given that his hair was stuck over his eyes he doubted it was necessary.

"I said… look, I'm sorry. We've known each other for like, five or six days; I shouldn't be thinking like that." Vincent said earnestly. He felt around with his tail and hands a bit until he found the bench, which he quickly sat on, "And I apparently wasn't quite ready to move yet."

"You okay?"

"Yeah, legs are just sort of locked up. If I tried to move earlier it would have been like a full body Charlie horse. "

"…I have no idea how to respond to this situation."

"Sort of a first for me too."

"No, I mean… You not being able to lie makes interacting with you way more confusing than if you could."

"I don't suppose you could elaborate? I'm lost enough right now since I'm not having the living hell beaten out of me."

"Look, I don't feel like turning this into some ass backwards mushy… feeling… thing… but…" Kin paused, sighing, "You can't lie. Anything you say is, to the best of your knowledge, the truth and what you believe without a doubt, right?"

"It has its ups and downs, but yeah."

"Then you're the first guy to tell me I'm beautiful and mean it—which is annoying because it's flattering but… we've known each other for less than a damn week. And maybe I'm reading too much into the loopholes possible in telling the truth all the time."

"Why?"

"Because maybe you're literally the nicest guy I've met, sure as hell the nicest anyone has ever been to me, and I don't want to get my hopes up if you _just _think I'm pretty to look at. Or if I get too into thinking about the whole Incubus thing then I start wondering if all the nice-ness is just you trying to soften me up before trying to sleep with me, or if you think I'm beautiful but just want to sleep with me or whatever. Oto sucked, okay? Even before Orochimaru took over it was full of asshats and men that were more interested… urgh! You know what I'm getting at."

"Then you get here, have me be all nice, and years of conditioning say this is me trying a tactic you haven't seen before for seducing you." Vincent finished, sighing and rubbing the back of his neck. "Alright, this has gone from awkward to a heart-to-heart chat. Look, just… ask me things then."

"What?"

"Ask me questions you need answers to. Ones we apparently need out in the open if we're going to be in the same house, because trust me when I say you're not the only one who's trying not to get their hopes up if this turns out to be some… fucked up game."

Kin raised an eyebrow before she responded.

"What happened to you then?"

"You're going to laugh because this is going to sound like it came out of some shitty teenager drama novel, but basically a new girl showed up at the academy, was really nice to me, tricked me into thinking I had a relationship with her before using that to embarrass the hell out of me to get in with one of those stupid little cliques that the "cool" kids form. There were a couple other times I guess; they're not as fucked up as the first one but they still kinda made me feel like I wasn't going to win the fight, so to speak. I had a thing for my teammate Sakura for a while, but you can only get bitched out so many times before you give up. A girl named Hinata apparently had a thing for me, but… well, let's just say I was the village pariah and she's from the most respected clan in Konoha, so I just scratched that off the list. Maybe it could have worked, but I have trouble giving myself any joy if it's actually going to fuck up someone's life. And now, well, I'm still the village demon so I'm pretty well screwed in terms of wooing anyone with those walls."

"That's… shitty." Kin replied, grimacing. "I've never really been in a relationship to be honest; stopped looking after the guys I let within arm's reach decided to try and grope me. Sorta why I have the temper; no tolerance for bullshit in a sea of the stuff tends to leave people with short fuses. When I didn't have the beat the hell out of them they were staying away because of my temper and going after the easy women. The easy, pretty women with the big tits that were less inclined to break their jaws."

"Charming." Vincent chuckled, shaking his head a little.

"Why do you think I'm beautiful?"

"Because… it's hard to put into words I guess. I like how you look; I'm sure even in the worst clothes possible you'd look good, at least to me, but that's not all of it. It's like… I know this is going to sound weird, but you don't use your looks for evil. And to be fair, you're also one of the few women that will talk to me on the regular basis without having to insult me once per conversation. Plus… you look me in the eye when we talk. You don't look at me like I'm an abomination; even Sarutobi looks at me differently now."

"I do think you look a little weird… but I don't think abomination even remotely the right word."

"My point exactly. It's… inner beauty, not just outer. I'd ask you a question now, but I feel like I would fuck up the wording; go ahead and keep the questions coming while I try to sort it out."

"Alright then… how do you feel about me then? What am I to you?"

"I… you're asking to make sure the answer isn't "a piece of ass", or something similar, right? Because I feel like it's… redundant after my little rant."

"Just… for clarification's sake."

"I feel more possessive than I should and really awkward just saying that."

"Not really clarifying there… look just… yes or no, are you catching feelings for me? You know what that means right?"

"At the risk of making a fool out of myself yet again, yes, I think I am."

Vincent wished he could open his eyes to at least see the look on Kin's face. There was silence for a long time, each second making Vincent's desire more and more tempting; just as his resolve was wavering he heard Kin stand up and get out of the pool.

"Keep your eyes shut." She said simply, walking over and grabbing her robe, donning it quickly and tying it closed. "You can open your eyes when you hear the door shut."

"Where are you going?"

"I need to go think about… this. It's… I don't know what to do right now, so I'm going to go think about it and get some sleep."

"Should I be expecting a response sometime soon?"

"You should be training to survive the finals and the invasion. Make it through that and we'll talk." Kin replied, a pause existing in the brief moment before she walked over to the door and grabbed the knob. "Vincent…" She said over her shoulder, looking at the hybrid, "Do me a favor and… make it back in one piece. I might be catching feelings too and I'll never forgive you if you go and die before I figure this shit out, got it?"

"It's a promise."

Kin left after that, the door clicking into place behind her. Vincent sighed and ran his hand through his hair, moving it out of his face and opening his eyes. He slid off of the bench and inhaled, taking water into his lungs to help him lay on the bottom as he tried to get comfortable on the smooth stone.

"Looks like I'm about to be busting my ass during training; I'd hate to have her mad at me forever." Vincent chuckled, the sound odd with water passing through his vocal cords instead of air. He folded his hands behind his head and laid on his back, staring at the steam above the water.

He let his eyes drift shut, deciding to start channeling again while he thought about the day. Vincent tried not to think too much of Kin, for fear of tempting himself to pressure her for any information, and instead tried to take his mind back to his progress with his incantation.

"Strike forth with unerring focus, arrow…thing… oh screw it, I'll get it tomorrow."

**]_'/}0{\'_[**

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><p>My goddess I am sorry that took so long. I went from 3 pages to 21 in two days after about a year of just sitting there; I am not promising that pace ever again because it tends to lead to me leaving things alone for too long. It's been like, a year since this got an update… yeah, sorry about that.<p>

Upside: this is 21… wait…(Remembers to change the font size to 12 and font to Times New Roman) 23 pages long with about 10,100 words to it. Next chapter probably won't be this long, but it will hopefully be out a lot sooner than a year. Like… maybe a month tops, a week at best.

Well, Ja Ne, my freaky darlings! I hope you've forgiven me, if only just a little.


	6. Fire and Anvil

It's been a day or so since I finished the last chapter, or at least it has been as I write this. I'm going to leave this message up here to make me feel guilty if it takes too long to write; Yay! Guilt is a motivator for me!

That aside, my freaky darlings, I think this is going to be slightly annoying chapter for some, mostly because of: T-T-T-TIMESKIP!

Yes, that ancient tool that I like to use when one of the following happens: Either a large time period of repetitive things happen, a time passes when something happens that I want revealed later as a "shocker" so to speak, or when nothing of major importance(That can't be described through a character's thoughts about said happenstance) happens for a while leading up to a more important event.

This is a little bit of all three. Now, half of you don't read this so expect to see this message again in the story itself(in a more flowing form, mind you) for those that skip this portion. Basically, we're at the finals now—about three weeks in the future, give or take a few days, if I'm not wrong about the time gap between the preliminaries and the finals—and Vincent has basically been busting his ass training; to keep this author's note short-ish I'll be recapping what he trained in the actual story. He's not suddenly super-powered, but I feel like he's going to have the upper hand in fights where an opponent isn't treating him with the proper level of caution.

Well, let's start then my Freaky Darlings! 3

* * *

><p>"So you're sure you can handle the Jinchuuriki?" Sarutobi asked, fingers laced before him. The finals were tomorrow and the defenses were already in place; Orochimaru was likely unaware that Konoha knew that he was impersonating the Kazekage.<p>

"Definitely; I'd go off saying that I have to handle this, as it is my duty as a Hound, but I'm going to say you're more interested in results this time Jiji." Vincent replied, standing before the aged Kage alongside Jiraiya. "The incantation is a few sentences long, but I have a feeling I'll be able to get that much time when the shit hits the fan, maybe even before it."

"I have a feeling that Gaara will force Orochimaru to speed up his plans; the boy is unstable and his seal is pretty shoddy according to my sources." Jiraiya interjected, frowning slightly, "There's a state Jinchuuriki can enter where their Bijou takes control of their bodies; from my understanding, this happens to Gaara whenever he sleeps. It's fully possible that, if you beat him bad enough, he'll try to force the transformation; he doesn't care about the chuunin exams, he cares about killing people."

"That's when I should strike then; he'll be defenseless in the brief time it takes to switch control. Orochimaru will see it and begin his assault too, so we'll take out a few problems all at once." Vincent replied, running over the incantation once more in his head. It was a special incantation; its strength and effect varied on Vincent's intent and level of faith in Blood, as well as the level of Influence Blood had on the world.

"In theory at least. Orochimaru was always good at lying in wait, but the minute his plans get screwed he tends to start acting a little hastily. Just worry about killing Gaara; it's normally against the rules, but I'm sure you can see why that's irrelevant this time."

"I can't kill Gaara; I've been given free reign with the Ichibi though." Vincent replied, shaking his head, "I'm doing my best to keep my religion from causing any issues, but Lord Blood says that Gaara can be saved from an extended stay in Hell if the Ichibi can be removed without killing him."

"Vincent, as long as the threat is eliminated, I don't particularly care at this point." Sarutobi sighed, sitting up and feeling his age yet again, "But I ask that you hold the safety of this village a little higher than what it sounds; I'm fairly sure that your god doesn't want a whole host of villagers and ninja in dying before their time."

"Probably not. Still, I'm considering it a trial that I have to overcome. Plus I've been promised some bitching weapons if I can kill a pseudodemon—a Bijou, that is." Vincent added, seeing the looks they gave him.

"Charming. Just make sure to stick to the plan. Take out Gaara—through whatever plan you have—then help out where you can. If Orochimaru erects some kind of barrier, use that teleportation to get inside and see about disrupting it as long as it won't get you killed."

"I might be able to talk Lord Blood into giving me the incantation for Chaos Hammer, but I don't know if that would do much more good than harm."

"Let's stick with what you know. Chaos Hammer is powerful but it'll knock you out if the last incident is any indication." Jiraiya replied, frowning. "If nothing else, I've actually hid my presence from pretty much everyone but you two, and I'll be hidden near the Kage booth. Just focus on the people you know you can handle Vincent; it's probably not pleasant to your pride, but there are plenty of ninja that are far stronger than you—on our side—that can handle a lot of the fighting."

"If I can call for any help from Hell, I will." Vincent replied, though he seriously doubted Blood had enough influence between Kin and himself to summon anything. Still, he might be able to summon a Vrock or two if it came down to it; the spell wasn't overly draining, and the incantation was pretty short, though it relied on a Vrock to actually hear his call.

"Make sure they know what side they're on." Sarutobi replied firmly, looking down at the map of Konoha before him. "You can return home Vincent; get some rest before the finals."

"Yes sir." Vincent replied, giving a small salute before teleporting out of the room.

The nausea was practically gone at this point, given how much Vincent had been practicing with the technique. He darted from spot to spot, finding that the fifty foot range was fairly easy to reach and impossible to exceed; it wasn't very draining at this point either.

This was more than practice though; he didn't want anyone to see him entering or leaving the Hokage's office for a while, and the teleportation had been a good solution. Solid objects weren't actually an issue as it turned out, you just needed a good mental picture of your destination which was much easier when the target was visible. With that hurdle overcome, he used his stealth—something Jiraiya had been working on with him—to get back to his home without anyone knowing. Some people likely smelled him in passing though, given that the teleport had a sort of brimstone smell when you reached your target, but no one had seen him or had any source for the smell.

Blood's aura was a welcome feeling; it had been explained to him as being Unhallowed ground, something that made demons far more powerful. Normally his archonic side would cancel the effect, but as he was one of Blood's Hounds, the effect was actually increased to the point where Vincent would probably be able to hold his own against much stronger enemies.

"Hey shithead." Kin greeted as he walked into the living room, hardly looking up from her book. Vincent had determined that, as opposed to his original theory that she was still mad at him, Kin legitimately greeted him insults at times without any ill-will.

"Hey Kin; how's the book going?"

"Fairly well. Complicated and confusing as Hell, but… oh, wait, I just realized what I said." Kin replied, giggling at the unintentional pun. "It's going well enough; Lord Blood's commandments are pretty cool all things considered."

"Don't suppose they're any different in that book than what I was told?" Vincent asked, sitting down in one of the many armchairs in the living room.

"Pretty much just live as a decent person, don't over-indulge, and you get bonus points for being a badass." Kin replied, looking back down at the book a moment later, "There's something here about the "Karmic Scales", but it's being kinda vague right now."

"I'm pretty sure that part just means "what goes around comes around" on a deeper level or something." Vincent remarked, leaning back into his chair and putting his feet up. "So what are you planning to do tomorrow?"

Kin seemed to stop reading for a moment, sighing and closing her book.

"I'm probably going to go sit in the basement near the shrine until you… until it's over." Kin replied, tracing some of the patterns on the cover of the book, not really looking up.

"I'm coming back, Kin." Vincent said softly, getting up and walking towards her. He kneeled before the couch, getting low enough to get his face into her field of vision. "I promise, I'm coming back."

"And what if this is a promise you can't keep?"

"Then I'll wait for you in Hell."

Kin shook her head for a moment, covering her eyes.

"Fucking… Vincent, I still… I don't fucking know. Don't say shit like that." Kin replied, choking on the words a little before she composed herself. "Just… fucking come back alive. I don't have people skills worth a damn and I can't get more people to believe in Lord Blood; I'd be clocking people in the jaw as soon as they said something against me."

"Yeah, that tends to be a bit counterproductive." Vincent said through a half smile, rubbing the back of his neck. He awkwardly stood up, giving Kin some room, "I'm… going to go meditate and get to bed early. Big day tomorrow."

"Yeah, Okay. I'll be… here for a while. I'll try to have something in the fridge for you; for the morning."

"Thanks."

Vincent turned, holding in a sigh; that had gone from emotional to very awkward exceptionally quickly. He walked off, tail awkwardly still as he moved out of the living room.

_**You two really need to fuck and get it over with.**_

"_With all due respect, I'm more concerned with making it through tomorrow. This is… war."_

_**No, this is a skirmish at best. War—True War—is the ultimate manifestation of hatred and wrath. No matter what they tell you, no matter how holy they paint their crusade, it's nothing more than a murder competition between no more than a handful of people throwing waves of expendable soldiers at each other. I detest war.**_

"_Forgive me, but it's surprising to hear that from the King of Hell…"_

_**It should not be; what desire do I have for hundreds of souls, walking through my gates long before their time? I am not some tyrant, hungry for souls. My power comes from the training and battles that I clawed it from, not from the denizens of my realm and the people torn from the mortal coil that mill about my land.**_

"_Well if your power is your own, why do you need people to believe in you?"_

_**The faith people have in me lets me gain a tighter grip on the mortal planes; fewer souls can slip between the cracks, less negative energy can pool, reincarnation can occur much faster, and most importantly pseudodemons don't run rampant through the land disrupting the balance of things. I have Hounds because I took a vow to limit my direct influence on the mortal planes; I can hardly smite a pseudodemon without making several craters a mile wide each.**_

"_Yeah, that's probably for the best then."_

_**Origin actually had me break a plane once. I mean I had some help the King of Heaven and the other Saints of Starfall, but we literally demolished existence within a sphere of… well, existence.**_

"_Origin?"_

_**The guy who made the earth you live on and the guy who's going to wipe it clean if things get out of hand.**_

"_So… Kami?"_

_**No, he's… damn this is hard to put into words. Kami, or the concept of an overbearing creation diety, doesn't fit Origin. He isn't a creator in as much as he simply… is. He IS the ground you walk upon, the air you breath, the stars in the sky. At the same time Origin has a physical body; he generally explains it as "everywhere and nowhere", though there's only one manifestation of him at any given time. Multiple universes and all that. Actually now that I think about it, there's only one of each of the Saints throughout all instances of existence; Hell King— which is myself, Heaven King, Moonblade, Nightfang, Stormsong, Arcane Eternal, and Origin.**_

"_Multiple…what? Wait, so there are other "me"s walking around?"_

_**Yes. It'd take too long to explain, but there are infinite instances of reality; there's even one where you found Origin's sword and became it's wielder for a time, though you refer to him as the Nobody Prince in that particular world. There's another where you found yourself blessed by Nightfang's curse through one of his strongest children, and became the best assassin Konoha ever saw; I believe you took the title of "No-Life King". I'm sure there are more where you were somehow touched by the other Saints, and more still where you died a horrible death.**_

"_That's…cool? Will I ever meet them?"_

_**Highly doubtable. Well, maybe your vampire self; his sword Whedabra used to be part of my old gate keeper, the five-headed dragon Tiamat. Her "sisters" hide in the world of her shadow, but Whedabra chose to wander the world and be a weapon to change the fate of her wielders. She comes by to visit every now and then, though she's a bit preoccupied at the moment raising her daughter with the other you at the moment.**_

"_Wait, the other me… had a kid with a dragon sword thing?"_

_**Well to be fair she normally likes the form of a young girl, but that hardly helps his case. From my understanding, she let her form age up a decade or so… just so the other you wouldn't be super uncomfortable. But you've gotten me rambling; how has your training progressed? Another world has needed more attention than normal and I've been a bit distracted aside from the occasional check in.**_

"_Well enough that… If I may, I think I have a prayer for you."_ Vincent replied, having ended up standing before Blood's altar. The Hound knelt before the altar, bowing his head, _"Spare me only enough attention to grant me power for the smite; Please watch over Kin tomorrow."_

_**I will do what I can.**_

"_I can't ask for anything else; Thank you, Lord Blood; I'm going to lie down, get rested up for tomorrow's festivities." _

_**I will make sure to empower the aura as much as possible tonight; it will give you an edge for a while. Expect to rely on your own might tomorrow, but take what breaks you can get.**_

Vincent stood and nodded, turning around and beginning the walk back to his room and bed. He let worries drift from his mind; ever since he was small he had made sure never to worry about anything in bed—a practice he perfected as Naruto. Some nights it wasn't an issue, and others it became a welcome bastion.

As his head hit the pillow, Vincent allowed a single train of thought to guide him to sleep: the recitation of incantations and magic in general. The words weren't Demonic, as he had originally thought, but instead coming out in Dragonic; the first true language born of the material plane and thus containing great magic. Apparently there was an even more powerful language with which to cast spells, though Blood had neglected to even name it; instead, Vincent had merely been told that the words would reveal themselves as they wished.

The Incantations themselves had turned out to be rather tricky; in order to cast a spell one had to first bring forth a raw chunk of mana, and then recite an incantation in order to shape that mana into a spell. In that sense, Vincent considered mana to be like a large chunk of stone that was chiseled into a spell, all the different tools required being the different lines and words of the incantation.

The analogy came to mind because, as Naruto, Vincent had once seen two men have a competition; each had six hours to carve the same image into a fairly large stone. The details of why this was happening were lost to him but Vincent clearly remembered watching with rapt attention, seeing the two artists use very different styles: different chisels, different strikes, different angles, and different speeds. Nothing was the same until the very end, when both artists stepped back and had almost identical copies of the image they were to carve. So very similar, yet there was an echo of each man in his carving.

Spells, Vincent had realized upon recalling the memory while meditating earlier in the month, were much the same; there were actually infinite incantations for a single spell as long as two requirements were met. First you had to have enough mana, and second you had to believe, without reservation, that your incantation was how the spell had to be properly shaped. You had to believe that your tools and method was the best way to create the spell; because of this, there would be a part of you changing the spell ever so slightly while still keeping the whole of the spell similar to whatever standard there might be.

It was an odd mix of that analogy and poetry that had let him actually weave his own words for spells, changing the incantation of Fireball with frightening effects and finishing the incantation for his Arcane Arrow. Smite already resounded with power in his mind, and so Vincent felt no need to change the words, though he felt that a day might come where it would be needed.

It was wholly confusing, but as soon as Vincent had run over all the incantations he knew—having learned a couple spells through Blood's whim and his own perseverance—his mind decided to stop pondering magic and instead turn his mind to sin.

Blood's original description of the Sins had been helpful since he had made a point to use concepts he was familiar with, but there was something odd about them. He had asked Kin earlier to try and see if her book had said something to confirm his suspicions, but her answered hadn't given him anything solid. It seemed like Blood had been trying to nudge him into realizing something was slightly off with how the Sins had been described, like for some reason he couldn't directly state them. Then again, it might have just been one huge mind-game the King of Hell was playing; not necessarily meaning anything other entertainment for the apparently easily bored King.

Nonetheless, Vincent felt like there was a small void in him; a lack of something that gave him direction. He knew that it was the sin that he was supposed to embrace—something Blood had told him to do a while ago. It wasn't something that he felt could be revoked, so he had been spending a great deal of his free time trying to figure out what the sins were, and had thus discovered the fact that they all seemed off in some way.

Vincent shook the train of thought from his mind, rolling over to look for more pleasant thoughts; Anything that would give him dreams that were, if not good, calming enough to allow for a restful sleep. Things like that fact he would eventually grow wings and be able to fly; it was something Blood had held back from the rebirth, letting Vincent grow accustomed to his greater height and tail first. It had been let slip that, along with whatever weapon the King had for him, Vincent's wings would grow upon defeating the Ichibi.

Soon enough dreams of soaring high above Konoha came to Vincent, carrying him through the night.

]_'/}0{\'_[

**Are Morgenstern and Mitternacht ready? **Blood asked, standing before the Hellforge. It lay inside the heart of one of the dormant volcanos of Hell, its massive size requiring such a location as well as its usual materials.

"Soon, my Lord. We are adding the final details now, as you requested. Are you sure he will be able to lift them? They're made of Infinium, after all; can't get much heavier than adamantium infused with flecks from the heart of a dying star."

**He will be fine; the purity I designated will keep them light when you consider the float-stones.**

"True enough." The forgemaster replied, shaking soot from his horns and scales as he turned to look across the massive chamber. "Besides, it's not like we're forging Blitzritter again. By Hell that was an annoying weapon to forge; infusing lightning from the elemental chaos into a blade of_ pure_ infinium! I've no idea how the fool managed to lift the damn thing."

**Willpower is a magnificent thing.**

With that Blood turned on his heel and left, his great strides lightly shaking the ground as he walked. Hell's sun was a beautiful amethyst, which colored the grass beneath his feet a bloody crimson as the King walked his realm. He was silent, waiting for the one beside him to speak.

"I see you've chosen a champion for this realm. The first of many, I take it?" he asked after a time, a delicate hand throwing his long braid of golden hair over his shoulder. Even in Hell's odd light, his robes were an almost blinding white, with gold silk woven into the fabric in beautifully complex patterns. Blue orbs regarded the Hell King beside him, lacking a pupil or sclera. His form in general was an amazing contrast to that of Blood, appearing as a tall elf, though the holy aura engulfing him and passively wrestling with Blood's own aura betrayed him as something much more.

**Hopefully; The sooner I can get a foothold in that realm the sooner I can get it balanced. I take it you're working as well Hector?**

"Of course; no rest for the wicked, after all." Hector laughed, the sound resonating over the hills they walked upon like the chiming of bells. "I was eyeing the Hyuuga girl that used to have a thing for your Hound. A very pure heart indeed, but that's not quite enough I'm afraid. There needs to be fire; anger, hate, lust… something impure. Then again I haven't had much of a chance to look."

**It's amazing how little you sound like the King of Heaven some days.**

"Oh please, you know as well as I that you can't recruit a pure soul as a champion. You grabbed that Vincent because of his Hate and Hope. I need someone with good and evil in them as well; without a shadow, how does one appreciate light?"

**Someone's been working overtime.**

"I… that was a joke wasn't it?" Hector sighed, shaking his head, "I really think I just need to take a break for a few centuries, leave Zellios in charge for a while."

**Didn't know you wanted Heaven to be on fire.**

"True enough, I suppose. He'll be ready to handle things at some point I'm sure; I think both of us need a vacation."

**As the humans say, "True that".**

"Well on the note of truths, what do you think?" Hector laughed, tucking a loose strand of hair behind a pointed ear. "Who would make a good champion for my end?"

**I've seen as little of the world as you have. Tell me though, are you intending to have our champions fight or ally with each other?**

"I'd like to have them ally; if we need to have a pissing content we'll do it ourselves on Friday. Of course, they may well never meet; the world's a big place after all."

**True, true. Still, healing is your domain; if you wish to make an impression, you may want to pick quickly and have them help during the recovery from the invasion.**

"It would work out nicely; people love faith healings and all that. Still, I might have to wait a while. Maybe let you get established first."

**Go ahead and pick someone; it'll be far easier if you don't have to fight against a fully established religion.**

"As you wish. Still, it might take some time; I have to be careful about this. Of course, a bit of chaos never hurt anyone; a little spontaneous action wouldn't kill me, eh brother?"

**Not at all.**

]_'/}0{\'_[

"Good luck Vincent."

"Sasuke? The hell are you… the hell are both of you doing here?" Vincent asked as he turned around to see Sakura and Sasuke were standing behind him. He had been leaning against the railing, watching the seats fill up in the arena when the two had apparently arrived. Technically no one but the competitors should have been in this area, but he had a feeling Sasuke had managed to talk his way here.

"We're here to wish you luck and remind you about something." Sakura replied, her voice quiet enough to almost escape notice; Vincent had a feeling that, much like Sasuke's eyes, this was the scar that the Chaos Hammer had left her with.

"Thanks for that; other than Lord Blood and… my housemate, no one has really said much to me today." Vincent remarked, smiling. "What did you need to remind me about?"

"We wanted to remind you to…remember everything Naruto taught you," Sasuke started, smirking, "And in that spirit, I wanted to know if you'd make me a promise."

"I… I'll do my best. What's the promise?" Vincent was taken aback by the concept; to remember what he learned as Naruto, to not lose who he was under the waves of new abilities and clarity of mind.

"I want you to take the dreams of Team 7. Sakura and I are scarred enough that we just can't go back to being ninjas; Hell, maybe we shouldn't have tried in the first place." Sasuke shook his head, clearing his thoughts before he started on something else, "We can talk about it after the exams are over, but if nothing else, I think you should at least take Naruto's dream."

"It's a promise then." Vincent had originally nodded, but he realized his folly and voiced his agreement.

"Thanks. We should probably head out before security throws a fit. See you after the exams Vincent; you better be in one of those damn Chuunin vests by then."

Sakura nodded in agreement, waving softly at Vincent before she began to lead Sasuke towards the door; Vincent had to wonder how they manage to get here. The people filling the stands were mostly clones, ready to be dispersed as soon as the show started; all civilians had been taken to shelters via shunshin and special tunnels to avoid detection. Most genin were guarding the bunkers where the civilians were being kept, though an exceptional few were in the crowd, ready to fight. The rest of the ninja force was either here, with their clones, or hidden throughout the village, ready to spring.

"Hey Vincent."

The hybrid turned, slightly surprised the see Sasuke standing by the door, left arm being gently tugged through the door by Sakura. The Uchiha fished something out of his collar and held it up for the briefest of moments.

"Hail to the King."

With those words the Uchiha disappeared through the door, leaving Vincent slightly stunned. A broad smile soon spread across his lips however, and a laugh started in his throat; it was a quiet thing at first, quickly growing into a booming laugh that filled the room and echoed out into the arena. He doubted it carried well enough to make it through the din the clones were causing and he hardly cared if it somehow did.

"Well now, things just got interesting." Vincent smiled to himself, eyeing the other genin in the room. Most were trying to look at him without making it painfully obvious, though Gaara was staring right at him.

_**A few of the people you've given amulets to have prayed today for my blessing in this battle; if nothing else, this should be fun to watch. If something occurs to solidify their faith, I might actually be able to influence something about the battle.**_

"_That would be nice. Still, this is going to be a shitstorm; I have no idea when the shit's hitting the fan, and the anticipation is making me want to…roar, oddly enough…"_

_**It's the dragon in you; don't pay it too much mind. Or go ahead and roar, it's up to you really.**_

"_How… does one roar? I feel like if I try I'll look like an idiot."_

_**We'll…work on that later. It's good to know how to roar though; some would argue a good roar after slaughtering countless enemies is better than sex.**_

"_And what do you think?"_

_**Personally I didn't feel like trying both options then comparing, so I just did both.**_

"_You…what?"_

_**I tore a bloody swathe straight into the palace of some upstart little prick in one of the darker corners of Hell totally naked with a succubus holding on for dear life; I finished both tasks at about the same time and let out a roar.**_

"_Ignoring that mental image… how was the roar?"_

_**Meh.**_

"Ladies and gentlemen! Prepare yourselves for the first match of this year's Chuunin exams!"

_**Looks like the show's starting. Are you ready to represent yourself as my avatar?**_

Vincent let a smirk spread across his face in response, a wicked smile spreading his lips and letting his fangs see the light of day.

"Hail to the King."

* * *

><p>I wanted to do the fight with Gaara and the invasion in this chapter, but hey, that was a beautiful place to end in my opinion. Plus, it means that I won't have this sitting in my computer for months to come.<p>

Now, I THINK I'm going to get a chapter of Symphony of the Hunter's Moon out next, but I might change my mind. Failing that, It'll be another OaKaaLD chapter and then I'll be back to BM:R.

With that in mind, I'm heading back to college in a week, so no promises about consistent updates. Just though you would like to know.

Stay freaky, my Darlings!


	7. Mitternacht and Morgenstern

Here's a chapter for you, my Freaky Darlings. I don't believe I've done a proper "war" scene like this since the original Bloody Maelstrom… well, there was the end of Aria of the Moonless Night, but still, that's only two.

* * *

><p><em>I am a warrior, not a scribe; these words are merely my recollection of the events two days ago—not some poem or grand retelling of every detail—here to stand as proof before wild rumor and conjecture obscure the battles.<em>

_I was there, an onlooker who saw the destruction wrought by this creature known now as the Hell-King. Blood the Hound, The Blessed Demon, The Exiled Beast. We knew not who he was until the Battle of Hell's Gate; he wore a cloak of shadows and declared war on the masters of Hell, from Asmodeus to Mephistopheles. The broken and the damned took solace in his bravery, though we all thought him a fool; a quick death fighting was better than the fate laid before us however._

_On the fields of Argenum we saw his true form and many of us then knew who this creature was; a twisted creation of the Prince of Darkness himself, created from the unholy fusion of the blood of a fallen Archon, an Insane Red Dragon, and the strongest Balor in the Nine Hells. For whatever purpose he was made, he was deemed a failure and banished to the mortal planes as a child to cause havoc and eventually die; a cruel twist of Asmodeus's whim saw the creature bound with chains on his right arm, containing all but a sliver of the creature's potential. Only the King of Hell was able to undo the chains; this was the reason the abomination known as Blood now stood before the Archdevils that laughed at his rebellion._

_I expected him to act as any other Lord; to stand at the back of his army and issue orders, preserving himself. It was… almost frightening how far ahead of his army he truly stood, as though he intended to fight the Archfiends and their armies alone; It was seen as a foolhardy act when, as the first wave of the Archfiend Mammon's armies neared, Blood ordered us to hold as he walked forward with naught but a cracked Greatsword._

_It was one of the most shaking things I ever bore witness too; Hell itself seemed to respond to Blood's words and action. As he charged into the fray, he proclaimed himself the King of Hell and claimed all the circles as his domain._

_Hell listened._

_The Archdevils were no longer laughing as their armies were slaughtered by a single warrior who refused to fall; blades bounced off of his fur, wounds healed at a lightning pace, and even the most colossal of blows never gave him a moment of pause. As Mammon himself fell to Blood's blade, which now glowed with the fiery blood of countless demons and devils, we realized our true purpose. Blood did not bring us here to fight; he just wanted an audience. He wanted Hell to see its Lords fall and its King rise._

_I will spare this text the repetition that follows; soon all but Asmodeus himself stood before Blood, shaking in fury and fear at the monster he created and threw away to its own devices. What happened next was too quick for my own eyes to follow; perhaps their might warped time itself, but a second saw Blood holding the obsidian crown of Hell while Asmodeus lay in more pieces than I dared to count._

_He broke it. The crown shattered and, with a furious strike to the ground that threw us all to our backs, the circles of Hell shifted and became a single entity with the Abyss becoming trapped within._

_Had there been a celebration I would have made no note here, for my attention was focused on our new King as he walked through the Gates and into the Mortal Planes. Many of us used magic to scry him, and were shocked to find him fighting against some truly monstrous opponent. Plague, he was called, and like a plague he had consumed the world and used its strength to bolster his own; even now we could feel his hunger nipping at the edges of Hell itself._

_Seven stood against him, now known as the Saints of Starfall; Lord Blood was among them, breaking the chains that bound him as we watched._

_Words do not exist that properly describe what we witnessed. I was later given a set of numbers by our King, and it made his potential truly frightening. Each chain contained one percent of his restrained power and potential, save for the one-hundredth chain, which instead contained .99 in place of a full percent. With .01 percent of his true might, Blood unified Hell._

_With all of his might, alongside the other Saints, he destroyed the mortal plane and the source of Plague's power. The one known as The World was the one who struck the final blow; I know not the details beyond what I saw, but I know with great certainty that I pity whatever causes Blood to undo even a single chain, given that he has done naught but grow in strength even through this short amount of time._

_Shortly after the battle was over and the world was reborn—the mortal plane, that is, The World being given the title of Origin due to the fact none of the Saints felt like dealing with the confusion after such a strenuous battle—I had a chance to ask the King a single question as he sat upon his throne._

"_What are you? Truly, what are you to wield such might?"_

_He laughed, shaking his head at me. His response was a single phrase which I have held in my mind since that day, though it may only have meaning to him._

"_I'm just someone who saw that within an empty glass lay the color of Infinity."_

_-A letter written by Oberon Firechain, chief advisor to the Hell-King, two days after the Battle of Hell's Gate and the Battle of the End._

Kin closed the book, letting her eyes close as she knelt before Blood's altar. The book had given no formal position for prayer, and Blood had been similarly vague, but she knelt nonetheless and folded her hands before her.

"Lord Blood, I ask that Vincent be allowed to come home safely. I see the fire in his eyes; he won't run from this battle until his home is safe." Kin began, keeping her voice even as emotion threatened to stifle her words, "So please, as a being who wields such awesome might, let Vincent know but a sliver of it so he'll come back."

_**Vincent has asked me to instead watch over you, sparing him only enough attention to bless him with the Smite. Would you forsake your own safety for his strength?**_

"No human wants to die, or put themselves somewhere they might." Kin replied, "But I'm miles from Konoha, with an aura that will protect me while I hide in the basement. Any who enter that would mean me harm will die long before they find me. Vincent needs your attention more than I do."

_**Valid logic. Tell me though, Kin, why are you so intent on seeing Vincent home?**_

"Are you just trying to get me to say it out loud?"

_**The fact you knew what I was getting at is good enough. I will give Vincent as much attention as I can this day; your world is not the only one that is begging my attention.**_

"I thought a deity would be able to split his attention infinitely?"

_**Don't push it.**_

Kin could almost hear a smirk or a chuckle in his words, though she dare not press the Hell-King; especially not after having read the recounting of his power. It was a frightening comfort to know that the nova of energy that she could feel through her amulet was only a sliver of Blood's might, knowing that the sun which burnt endlessly could—at will no less—expand a hundred fold.

"Thank you, Lord Blood."

**]_'/}0{\'_[**

This was it; this was his initiation.

Such were Vincent's thoughts as he stood across from Gaara, staring into the turquoise eyes of his adversary. The proctor was taking his sweet time in walking over, avoiding the odd shuriken or shallow trench left by the three prior battles.

"I've had my eye on you… your blood will make mother very happy…" Gaara began, staring unblinkingly as ever into Vincent's own eyes; the tension in the air was almost enough to choke a person.

"I've been watching you too… I'm going to feed your mother's soul to my god." Vincent replied, lips curling into a wicked smile at the thought; of course, he knew that "feed" was the wrong word, but he wanted intimidation, not a long-winded discussion of the results of giving a soul to Blood. Speaking of the Hell-King—who had been unnaturally quiet for the past hour—it was he who confirmed the information regarding Gaara referring to the Ichibi as his "mother". It was an illusion whose existence was an annoyance to the Hound, and an annoyance which he intended to deal with as soon as the match started.

The jinchuuriki's eyes narrowed ever so slightly as the proctor began stating the rules yet again, despite the fact that neither combatant was listening; Vincent had heard them three times already and Gaara simply didn't care.

Vincent's focused gaze seemed to legitimately disturb both the proctor and Gaara, though Vincent disregarded the former and barely noticed the latter as his eyes locked onto something; this was the first time he had been able to properly study Gaara, after all, and he had taken the opportunity. The observation ceased when their eyes met; it was like Vincent was seeing into Gaara's being.

A great beast of sand glowered back from within its vessel, yearning for the blood of the creature before it. Greed, Wrath, Lust; the words were etched into the foul psuedodemon's body, marking it. Making it a target.

Fury welled up in Vincent, forcing him to blink and let his gaze shift; anything green in the arena seemed almost too vivid at the moment—something he had learned to be a sign of his dragonic blood getting too worked up.

"Are you both ready?" The proctor finally asked, having finished running through the rules.

"Yes."

"I am."

The proctor had the sense to get the hell out of dodge as soon as he signaled the match to begin, the act allowing him to narrowly dodge Vincent's tail as it arced through the air.

As predicted, sand as hard as stone blocked his attack, though Vincent felt some give to the defense; either Gaara wasn't applying himself or the sand wasn't great at absorbing high amounts of blunt force.

The first teleportation seemed to surprise Gaara, who had expected the sand to grab Vincent's tail and hold him still for a quick finish. The sand grasped at air for a moment before it pooled around the youth, cascading from his gourd like an endless waterfall. Some of it rose up and hovered around him like a desert halo, ready to block whatever assault Vincent had in mind.

Magic was the obvious solution; Fireball and Arcane Arrow were likely to blast or pierce, respectively, through Gaara's defenses. At the same time though, Vincent had a theory that demanded attention; past the first ring of defense was the sand armor that the Jinchuuriki hid under, and if his blunt-force theory about the sand was right than he might be able to save mana for the invasion.

Then again, Vincent thought as he dodged several shuriken made of sand, magic would end this fight much faster. Not to mention he didn't particularly want to get in range of the sand's grasp or have this fight last long enough to have Gaara figure out the limitations of his abilities.

"Mydrhuungoi wyhudrni whuyli drnii Eidrniihu, Y' ani ehusterai ehuhuyzi! Gorayzi onraihuhuunrak wystonmy drnihuyonkni drunlii eraty mybaesti; niehugo, drniunrai drehukidr chunimy poiwyhui anyon!"

It was a long incantation—though relatively normal in length for the spells he knew—for what looked to be nothing more than a tiny mote of bluish light, roughly shaped like a dart or arrow. The incantation, however, was necessary for the effect that Vincent had been striving towards for the past month.

The mote shot forward as Vincent dodged the newest wave of sand shuriken, piercing through both defenses that would have blocked a normal projectile and striking Gaara at his shoulder. Judging by the scream of surprise the youth likely felt the attack through the whole of his being, especially given that the spell discharged mana—which apparently had very painful effects when foreign mana entered a body, especially one unaccustomed to channeling it—like electricity. It was invisible to the naked eye though Vincent, with his inhuman gaze, could faintly see tendrils of energy lash at Gaara for a few moments before they dissipated.

Jiraiya had described it as a sensation akin to sticking one's penis into an electrical outlet; Vincent didn't particularly want to know how the Sannin knew that specific sensation, or if—regardless of location—the spell caused groin-centered pain. All he needed to know what that it was a surprisingly low energy spell, though the catch was that actually caused no physical harm; it was all pain, in essence, and anyone with a high pain tolerance could shrug it off, as proven when Jiraiya managed to continue an assault without interruption despite the Arrow striking him cleanly in the chest.

Gaara, however, had no such pain tolerance and looked like he was struggling to stand; the sand had spoiled him with its protective coddling. This Jinchuuriki didn't know physical pain, it seemed, and that was enough for Vincent to take advantage of the situation. The second arrow met much thicker shields, though this did little to slow the projectile; the first line of the incantation made it about as solid as mist… mist that took the form of an arrow that traveled through the Ethereal Plane to strike the target.

The rest of the incantation, which Vincent was quite proud of, made the little arrow lock on to its intended target; the spell would hit no matter what defenses or dodge tactics it had to deal with, and would pass through anything—or anyone—that wasn't the target.

"That is a beautiful spell." Vincent admired as Gaara screamed in pain again. His mood—which had rising with how potentially easy this was turning out to be—took a drastic downturn when sand grabbed his tail and smashed him into the ground a few times before chucking him into a concrete wall. He stayed there for a moment before falling to the ground, unable to right himself in time for a graceful landing.

Vincent eyed the wave of sand that rejoined Gaara with fury burning in his eyes; he had no idea how the boy had gotten that much sand behind him but the Hound wasn't about to let something like that happen again. Once again the greenery of the arena seemed to burn with a sudden vividness that was wholly unnatural; a few breaths as he stood up cleared the rage and let him think.

Gaara, on the other hand, was flipping the fuck out by the look of it; Vincent could barely hear whatever insane ramblings were spilling forth from the Jinchuuriki, but insane was accurate based on what he could piece together.

Some dark part of his mind kicked into overdrive, laying out strategy after strategy based on what he had to work with. Vincent wasn't about to let himself get caught in the sand again, especially if it didn't let go this time, and as such a single theory stood out in the torrent of ideas whirling around his mind.

An Arcane Arrow streaked forth through the air, piercing the sand and making a sharp 90-degree turn as Gaara tried to dodge, sinking into the boy and leaving him braced for a pain that didn't come. He clutched at his ears a moment later, falling to his knees as the beast within him was struck.

"So it can do that as well." Vincent remarked, smiling. The incantation—Strike forth from the Aether, O' ye arcane arrow! Know unerring focus through time and space; hark, thine target lies before you!—apparently made the spell break through any barriers, physical or otherwise, to reach its target. Still, this arrow took more energy than normal, perhaps knowing what it would have to do to reach the Ichibi.

Most interesting was how the sand now flailed wildly; as the Bijou at this point was nothing but a mass of chakra with a will of its own, the influx of mana must have been especially painful. It was actually surprising how long it went on, giving Vincent time to disappear into the trees and collect his thoughts.

Part of him wanted to simply strike both of them with a set of Arcane arrows and move in for the Smite. Still, should he wait for Orochimaru to move, or try to make him sweat by taking out one of his big offensive units?

_**Don't worry about Orochimaru; your opponent is Gaara. I'd recommend ending this soon, however. Nothing makes a commander sweat like seeing one of his more destructive units annihilated. Soon a shell of sand will start to form around Gaara; strike both the Jinchuuriki and the Bijou, in that order, with Arcane Arrows. Move in for the Smite; remember, they have to be able to hear you if you want the full power of the Smite. The magic will let the words pierce, but not carry; use the window of the sands spazzing out to get close enough for the love of me, don't fuck up the incantation.**_

"_Yes, my Lord."_

Vincent waited in the trees as the sand seemed to regain its ability to move coherently, at which point Gaara made some odd combination of hand-signs through whatever shouting the Ichibi was no doubt filling his head with, and sure enough the sand began to flow towards the boy, slowly building into a sphere around him. The lethargy in the sand showed a lasting effect from the arrow, though Vincent still intended to act as quickly as possible.

He prepared himself for the smite as he unleashed the Arrows, knowing this to be the most dangerous part of the match itself. As he prepared to leap from the branches to begin the end an explosion sounded from outside the arena, the blast being powerful enough to actually shake Vincent from the tree.

Jiraiya had been right, it seemed; Orochimaru was moving his plans ahead, unless this was the ordained time anyway. It didn't matter to the Hound at the moment however, the matter of landing safely taking priority; invasion or not it was still his mission and duty to eliminate Gaara as a threat.

He righted himself in the air and teleported at an angle, turning the almost thirty foot fall into a matter of inches; more importantly, close enough for Gaara to hear him. Regardless of the Ichibi's ravings and roars, the magic of the Smite would cut through that and deliver unto Gaara the meaning of Vincent's words. The Hound grasped his wrist in the same way Kakashi did for his Raikiri, favoring his claws as the medium for the Smite.

"Know now the gaze of the Blessed Demon, O' ye child of ash and dust! Tremble, Wail, Writhe! The darkness binding thy heart undoes the world as stars burst from the skin of our mother; Unite and Disperse! The Ire of the Hound knows no limit for thy perversion under cycle that shall ever stain the sky! Close thy eyes lest you know the void in your heart to echo throughout eternity as the final bell tolls the Gatekeeper's hymn! Devour! Crush! Rend! Hound of Hell I summon thy wrath!"

Flames blacker than a moonless sky burst into life around his hand, the crimson sigil of Blood burning brightly in his palm; The growling and snapping of the flames seemed to drown out the world as a level of power filled Vincent from the core of his very being. This was true power, he surmised as he lowered himself for a charge.

This was the power of Hell.

Gaara seemed petrified by the display, paralyzed by either awe or fear or perhaps some virulent combination of the two swirling into shackles stronger than any metal. The world seemed to slow to a crawl as Vincent launched himself forward with his powerful legs, strides carrying him meters at a time and bringing him to Gaara in but a few steps. The sand fled from him, instinctively fearing the flames that cloaked the ivory claws that now streaked towards Gaara.

Vincent couldn't describe the sensation of having his hand pierce through Gaara—no, that wasn't what happened, or at least they weren't the right words for it. His hand was inside Gaara, seemingly violating his very being while the black flames scorched his clothes around the entry point; their eyes met for the briefest moments before Vincent tore his hand free of Gaara and spun on his heel, sending the youth flying with his tail.

No blood spilled from the wound as time came back to its normal flow; indeed, there was no wound at all, only a circle of skin exposed in a ring of burnt cloth. Vincent paid the now unconscious jinchuuriki little attention, observing the blue orb in his hand for a brief moment before falling to a knee.

"I offer you this deceiver as proof of my faith, my Lord." He recited calmly. There had been no plan after taking the pseudodemon out; this was merely what Vincent felt needed to be said. As the orb was consumed by the black flames—which disappeared after serving their purpose—Vincent stood back up to his full height, still reveling internally over the power he had wielded.

_**I appreciate those with a flair for the dramatic. Offering accepted; prepare for your wings and weapons, my Hound. Oh, and brace for a headache; I have to send some information to you regarding said weapons so you don't kill yourself staring down the barrel.**_

"Wait wha-"

Vincent was cut off by a blast of pain from his back as bone and muscle burst forth, spreading out and flexing of their own volition before settling to Vincent's uneasy commands. It was somewhat akin to having a distorted pair of arms coming from his back; it would have been exceptionally disturbing had Vincent not already grown accustomed a tail which, by his standards, was the odder of his limbs to get used to. The wings, at the very least, could have the reference of his arm as opposed to a tail that gave him no frame of reference for control.

_**Trust me when I say that you don't have to worry about those fuckers getting damaged; could probably block a whole storm of shuriken and not feel a damn thing. Mind you, I wouldn't advise blocking intentionally with them until you learn more about defensive channeling. Now… I want you to brace yourself because this is going to fucking hurt more than anything you've experienced as either Vincent or Naruto. Or Kuromaru for that matter, but I doubt you remember past lives.**_

"_Why is it that when you ramble it usually precedes extreme _PAIN?!"

The last word tore itself from Vincent alongside a primal scream, though an almost morbid sense of curiosity manage to keep Vincent's eyes from closing; he sincerely wished that he hadn't had the willpower to watch as a band of molten metal was wrapped around both of his biceps. Another scream came as he felt to his knees, the fall caused by molten spikes impaling his arms: one for each arm, piercing through one side of the still white-hot bands and out the other, molding their ends into rivets while a loop seemed to push itself out of the slag on the outside of the bands.

He watched each link of the long chains form as the metal cooled around him until eventually both chains ended in crimson motes of light, casting a hellish glow over the whole arena.

_**Stand and take your weapons Hound.**_

Saying that standing up was simple was roughly equivalent to saying that an imp had a chance at beating the Hell-King in a fist fight; that is to say, a blatant lie that should have seen the speaker beaten senseless for the act of having uttered such remarkable foolishness that would have no doubt lowered the collective IQs of all those unfortunate enough to be within hearing distance by at least two digits.

Still, Vincent somehow manage to pick himself up from the ground; had he the energy he might have laughed at the hissing coming from his sweat hitting the still-hot metal. His hands shook slightly as they neared the light, feeling the humming power within; his fingers wrapped around a leather grip and pulled back, dragging the weapons out of the miniature gates to Hell and into his possession.

The minor headache was nothing compared to the pain of being blessed with these weapons, though it took Vincent a while to even comprehend what they were; turning them this way and that only let him know that they were heavy as hell and that his brain was doing its best to place words on the odd constructs.

Guns. Big fucking guns; the weapons were easily two feet long each. Words came more freely now that he identified the most alien part of the weapon, taking it in stride despite the fact he had never seen or heard of a gun like this. Muskets and cannons were still used in parts of the world, but they certainly didn't look like this. The weapons themselves seemed to be in three parts, which let Vincent take them in slowly.

The Gun portion rested atop the odd contraptions, and from what Blood had given him regarding guns it seemed like the weapons took a majority of their forms from handguns, semi-automatic if Vincent wasn't mistaken. It struck him as oddly rectangular and fairly massive compared to the images Blood gave him; a great deal of lines were etched into the outside, all glowing with hellish light—one gun radiating and almost blackish-blue, while the other was a silvery blue, almost like a moonless night and a star's light, respectively. On the outside of either casing was the crimson sigil of Blood, and on the inside there was merely a blank orb, surrounded by the light of its respective gun.

He looked at the end and saw a tube that extended back into the weapon which seemed disconnected from the glowing casing: the barrel, he realized as the information settled in. He quickly pointed that end away from his face, instead looking at the underside of the guns.

Dark crimson metal, much like the amulets and the metal making the bands around his arms, had been formed into what Vincent could best describe as a massive cleaver blade with a gentle curve in the cutting edge that lead to a point that jutted straight down from under the end of the barrel. He had a feeling that these blades were a majority of the weight; part of his wondered if he had the materials to maintain such blades or the skills to swing them properly.

The final portions of the weapons were their handles; dark leather with crimson studs didn't surprise Vincent as he saw it wrapped around the grip, and at this point the fact that it again differed from a "normal gun" didn't either. The handle was slanted at an angle that made both shooting and swinging viable options; somewhere around fourty-five degrees if he wasn't wrong. Just in front of the handle itself was a thinner piece of metal, which took Vincent a moment to realize that this was the trigger for the guns. There was a hand-guard for the handle as well, extending from the base of the blade and connecting to the pommel of the handle; it looked like the body was a solid piece with the gun and blade attached after the work had been done on said body.

The pommel itself had a hole through it, through which a chain connected the weapon to the bands on Vincent's bicep. He had a theory regarding the blades being able to cover all ranges of combat; the guns for long range, swinging the blades via chain for medium, and the blades via the handle for close.

_**Listen close. Hear their names.**_

Vincent half expected them to start cussing their names out in demonic or broken Japanese, but he instead got something significantly more abstract. Darkness and light, specifically. It took a moment for him to refine the pictures into things he understood: Midnight and the Morning Star.

"Mitternacht." Vincent whispered, feeling a thrum of power from the weapon with the dark lines. "Morgenstern." He whispered, looking to the silvery light of the other weapon and feeling the same vibration.

_**Trust me when I tell you that these have been confusing the hell out of the blacksmiths; half of them are calling them gunblades and the others are going for either chain-blades or chain-guns.**_

"Gunblade." Mitternacht and Morgenstern seemed to agree, based on the hum. It was a connection that transcended anything that he had felt with a human before; it bordered on being greater than his connection to Blood, though he felt the gunblades had the same connection to the Hell-King as he did. "What is your bidding, my Lord Blood?"

_**Defend your home. Mitternacht and Morgenstern have enough abilities to keep you entertained for hours, but we'll save those for after Konoha isn't on fire. All you need to know right now is that pulling the trigger fires a mote of energy like a bullet—it comes from your reserves, but the upside is that there isn't a need to ever reload the guns themselves. Mitternacht is more naturally attuned to fire bullets that freeze; Morgenstern burns with its bullets. The blades are Infinium; they'll tear through just about anything you hit, provided you're strong enough to carry the blade through the material. They're also enchanted so that—in all their attacks—they negate any inherent resistance of the target; it's more for dodging the resilience that angels, demons, and pseudodemons have than anything a human might possess, but it will be no less effective at making their defenses mean fuck-all. Now go kick some ass.**_

"Yes, my Lord!"

_**Oh, and don't shoot yourself in the foot.**_

"I…yes, Lord Blood."

_**Or the dick for that matter.**_

"Okay why would I even-"

_**Hey look, ninja are fighting on the rooftop. Try shooting the ones that aren't on your side.**_

"Right…" Vincent started, raising his left arm and Mitternacht to line up a shot. "So what, I just aim and pull the SON OF A BITCH!"

_**Oh that was fucking beautiful.**_

Vincent wasn't sure if it was more insulting that the kick from the gunblade had bounced the weapon back to whack him in the forehead or if the more taunting of the two was Blood laughing hysterically. Pulling the trigger had also made him jump, having not expected the shot to be so loud, which was something he felt a twinge of embarrassment over.

Turing his eyes back to the ninja fight, he was disappointed to find it over, though the bodies of the Oto ninja were still there.

_**Ninja battles don't last long. They're all trained to have endless moves that are basically one-hit kills if they connect. It's like a game of tag where everyone is it and the first person tagged explodes.**_

"Which is the only reason I'm really okay with that fact it didn't take me long to take out Gaara." Vincent replied, jumping onto the wall and dashing up to the roof; his wings were slightly cumbersome, but he quickly found they could boost his jumps. He was tempted to fly, by he didn't know how and this wasn't the best learning environment.

_**You would have had it last longer?**_

"A bit. It seemed too easy."

_**I could have a whole speech about how one slip could have killed you, but I think you already know what I'm going to say.**_

"Exploding tag, I know." Vincent replied, studying the body of the Oto ninja he was aiming at. There was a lot of blood on him, but he couldn't tell if Mitternacht had hit or not since he had no frame of reference while he looked for a bullet wound. He looked around and let a frown rest on his lips; most of the fighting had been pushed away from the arena and towards the walls, where a gigantic snake summon was wrecking buildings left and right. Above the Kage booth, however, was a great barrier that trapped Orochimaru and Sarutobi inside; he spied Jiraiya on the outside alongside several Anbu, no doubt figuring out a way inside or at the very least a way to get Orochimaru once the barrier dropped.

Vincent turned his eyes to the snake and dashed off towards the edge of the roof, leaping off in the direction of the fighting. This was his home, and he wasn't going to stand around while it was destroyed.

Part of him was preparing itself to kill; he had maimed the one genin in the preliminaries, and he had seen Haku and Zabuza die before him as Naruto, but that was not the same as personally ending someone's life. Slight fear or disgust at the thought might not have bothered him; such were human emotions. As the scent of blood grew stronger and the burning hate in the air grew stronger however, Vincent felt a part of him was already prepared to kill, accepting the act to be as natural as breathing.

He jumped over a building and landed behind an Oto ninja, fighting a chuunin Vincent swore he had seen before; the decision had been made before his feet had touched the ground though, and Morgenstern was already sailing through the air in a deadly arc. It would be quick, like a bandaid; fretting about it would only cause more pain. For him at least; Vincent had no doubt that it was excruciatingly painful for the Oto nin as he was cut from shoulder to hip, regardless of speed. Blood splashed out and found itself soaking into the fabric of Vincent's pants as the two halves fell to the ground.

The knowledge that death could be coming at any moment coupled with all the blood in the air made for an odd trigger; Vincent saw the world start to turn a little green, only he retained perfect clarity this time. Still everything felt oddly muted, contradicting the sharpened senses he felt himself fighting with.

He began to swing Mitternacht, teleporting as the momentum built and appearing in front of a ninja who had been charging from the side. He wasn't far enough to be cleaved in half, but Vincent found little difficulty in having Mitternacht tear through bone and organ alike, dropping the man in an instant. Letting the momentum carry his arm in a huge arc, the Hound turned and found the barrel of his gun between the eyes of a Suna ninja.

It was slightly frightening to see the bullet—a small mote of dark-blue light—burst out of the back of her head a fraction of a second before she was knocked backwards by the force of the impact, crumpling in a lifeless heap. Vincent began to understand, as he darted about the battle taking more and more ninja out via surprise teleports and his inhuman strength than his skill level should have allowed, that his humanity was dead now.

Not his decency or compassion, perhaps, but he no longer felt human in any sense of the word after having felled so many of what were once members of his own species. That aside, the "surpise" of his teleports got old fast, and apparently became predictable as the battle moved on; it left Vincent with more and more opponents that weren't dropping at his first attack.

Blood was right about his wings being able to guard against shuriken attacks, though Vincent was receiving numerous cuts and wounds to his torso as his opponents learned to dodge at the last second; the great weight of the twin gunblades made it hard to defend if an attack missed.

One unlucky ninja found that Vincent was a quick as study as they were when the Hound began to use his momentum to his advantage; instead of standing when swinging his blades and shooting, he would rotate with the attack, knocking people around with his wings or breaking bones with his tail.

"Duck!"

Vincent spun to the ground, tail sweeping out to break a few ankles as a massive Zanbatou soared through where his midsection had been. The offending ninja fell to the ground, riddled with kunai as Vincent shot a glance at the source of the voice; some nameless leaf Chunin who was already fighting another opponent. It was an odd moment of gratitude that ended with Vincent repaying the favor by blasting a Suna Ninja attempting to flank his comrade with a silvery bolt from Morgenstern.

He felt something building up inside of him, some great force that was restrained within the depths of his being. Perhaps it was some latent bloodlust or psychotic urge, but whatever it was it was caged; never exceeding a certain point regardless of how much pressure built up.

Every second of the fight seemed to last an eternity, and every breath he took built up that fire inside him. He was soaked in blood at this point, and Vincent could hardly smell anything but the scent of fire and death. Vincent was knocked off his feet when a snake summon—which he realized to be a second one, seeing as the first was already gone and further away—crashed through part of the building he was standing on.

The fire in him burned with the fury of an inferno as he sprung up and aimed his guns at the snake's head. The bullets probably weren't doing much more damage than kunai and shuriken were, but Vincent was making sure that the snake was getting a face full of bullets nonetheless.

The only time he ceased fire was to whirl around and cut down an Oto nin that had been trying to take him out. The idea struck him as he whirled around, seeing the snake low enough for him to get away with a teleport; a whiff of brimstone reached his nose as he slashed the beast's eye with Morgenstern, already braced to be knocked away by its flailing head.

Some strain of luck saw him skidding across the top of Konoha's wall; a bit of positioning and he was on his feet, already hacking and shooting his way through everything not wearing a Konoha head-band.

"Evening Vincent!" Kakashi shouted as the pair found themselves back to back, an odd stance due the Vincent's wings. They held their ground for a while, Kakashi using enough jutsu to make a Kage jealous and Vincent unleashing an unending hail of gunfire. "Damn those are loud!"

"But damn are they effective!" Vincent replied, taking out yet another enemy ninja as she tried to get the jump on a leaf ninja; he didn't have the best accuracy with rapid-fire due to the kickback, but he was rapidly improving. The fire in him was starting to agitate him though; it was like a torrent of power was being withheld just below the surface.

Vincent spared a glance over the wall and frowned; there were still a ton of ninja down there, and he was starting to really feel the drain of firing and swinging his new weapons.

_**Looks like you haven't had time to really think about your impossibility.**_

Vincent replied without words, breaking from Kakashi to dash into a group of ninja that had just scaled the wall. He cleaved one, knocked the next off with his tail and shot the last two before even more showed up.

"We need to secure the wall!" Vincent shouted, baring his fangs and he tore into the new group, firing mid-swing to take out another "dodger" as Vincent was starting to refer to them as.

"Easier said than done!" A nearby Jounin exclaimed, taking out a ninja that had been trying to exploit what he thought to be a weak point in Vincent's offensive from behind. Vincent whirled and fired past the woman, nailing the approaching Oto nin in the heart. The jounin nodded in thanks before leaping off to rejoin the battle.

Vincent searched for his next target, finding that the fighting had moved down the wall a ways and giving him a short respite. He knelt for a moment, staring at the blood that fell from his body; had he been less focused on the fighting he might had hoped to be a badass with none of the blood being his, but as it stood he had been fighting skilled opponents. Some of the wounds had healed up, others were still dripping fresh blood.

Blood.

Vincent let go of Morgenstern and slammed his palm into the puddle before Blood could stop him or even remark on what he was about to do.

"I bless these walls in the name of the Hell Hound!"

The effect was instantaneous and ground-shaking; all but Vincent were thrown from the wall as it shot up from the ground, growing higher and thickening as their color shifted to a reddish brown—almost like blood-stained wood. Spikes began to jut out from the outside of the wall, and the damaged sections reassembled themselves before sharing the same transformations as the rest of the wall. The final shift was the giant, crimson symbols that now appeared all over the bridge, the largest and often the centerpiece of other symbols being Blood's sigil.

Then, time stopped.

Vincent couldn't move, and the fire in him dwindled to embers. He could hear Blood click his tongue.

_**Now, see… you're going to die at this rate. Really; you've expended damn near everything you had left to bless the walls. Upside is that it's going to be a bitch getting through that wall for anything that isn't friendly to Konoha—a nice bit of intention added to the blessing I might add, though it's what made it so harsh on you.**_

"_Now what? Do I die… like this?"_

_**Nah, I'm gonna pull some cosmic bullshit and you get to live.**_

"…_seriously?"_

_**Yep. One string attached though, just because you have no idea how much paperwork I'm going to have to ignore once I do this; we're dealing with this impossibility thing here and now.**_

"_Yeah, I've been meaning to ask you about that." _Vincent replied, feeling some energy come back to him; just enough to hold up a conversation though. Still, the mental break from the fighting was nice.

_**Look, I've had like eight people get the dice like you did, or at least in the same sort of categories… that is, an angelic force, a demonic force, and a primal force. Now, I have a balance in these three because I embraced all of them; if it weren't for Origin I'd be dead because of that. You and the other five cannot achieve this balance because… well, the Saints decided one of me was enough. I agree.**_

"_So what's the impossible part? Other than not getting a balance, I mean; I'm pretty sure I exist."_

_**Your Archon is blocking the Incubus which is blocking the Dragon which is blocking the Archon. You are, in essence a power cock-block chain. You give up one of the three though, and the remaining two—for some odd fucking reason—start working in tandem and you get the best of both of those worlds at the cost of losing all trace of the third.**_

"_So… I have to pick what I want to give up."_ It was more of a statement than a question, though he could feel Blood's nod.

_**Time is standing still, so take your time; the physical change will happen, then you get to go back to kicking ass. Just tell me which bit to take out.**_

"_And this is being removed—just to clarify—because I basically have latent abilities that are being suppressed because the three sides oppose each other? And removing one will make the other two work together?"_

_**It's complicated. Any of the two work well together; the introduction of the third makes it a shitfest though. I only obtained balance though dying. Twice, actually, but Origin brought me back both times. Then I killed the Lords of Hell and became King. Good times. Oh, and this isn't some test for you to be all cool and tough it out with all three; you'll literally explode if you do.**_

"_Archon"_

_**Alright let's get that Drag…wait, what?**_

"_Archon. I want the Incubus and Dragon left in me."_

_**You…huh…**_

"_What? You said pick one."_

_**No, I mean I'm all for it. Everyone else just picked to lose their primal powers and like… one picked their demonic ones; first time someone's given up the holy. I hope you realize this is going to make temptation a bitch for you.**_

"_Well I feel like Archon has contributed very little to me staying alive so far. I mean, I've been fucking shit up between the teleports and the tail."_

_**The Archon is what's been giving you**__**some level of accuracy with your guns and the strength to hold them up. You're going to have to go the rest of the fight without them, numbnuts. It's probably responsible for you not being a total asshat as well, but that might just be a genetic quirk.**_

"_Still picking Archon."_

_**Well this should be fun to watch.**_

It was sort of like having an organ removed, minus the pain; Vincent didn't particularly care if the analogy wasn't accurate or even if it made sense. He felt the Archon leave him and the cage binding the embers open up. Warmth filled him and gave him the energy to stand, though time was still frozen.

His ears tingled a little, as did his eyes; settling for seeing what was happening with the former, Vincent reached up and touched his ear, a little surprised to find it was no longer canine in form. It… was difficult to describe; for the most part, it felt human until you reached the back part of the ear, at which point it felt like there were cartilage ridges poking backwards to make a small frill with both ears.

**Dragon ears. Not as sharp as the Archon's, but still far better than human. Your eyes are both emerald now, and your hair hasn't changed in the slightest. Now, see about picking up your weapons and place them on your thighs; they'll stick due to the enchantment and weight significantly less like that. Now, about that cosmic bullshit…**

Vincent felt a surge of energy fill him up, leaving him with about as much as he had prior to blessing the wall; a little under half of his full amount, but still an ocean compared to the miniscule puddle he had after the blessing. Most of his wounds had been healed as well, though he was still covered in fresh blood.

He reached down for his weapons and found that their weight, while not diminished, was now more in the range of being comfortably heavy as opposed to unwieldy.

_**Huh… dragonic strength. Forgot about that bit. The last few times the primal power came from either an elemental or some other primal beast, not a dragon. You should still be able to aim a bit if you channel the focus you can achieve with your Incubus blood, but I'd recommend more bullet spamming if you intend to hit something.**_

"Got it." Vincent replied, realizing his voice sounded slightly deeper. Heavy, but smooth.

_**Like a brick wrapped in silk. You're taller too, but not much; might change over the next few months though. This should be fun to watch though.**_

"I can only hope to be entertaining." Vincent replied, gripping Mitternacht and Morgenstern as time clicked back to normal. He set a gun on his hip and held aloft his amulet, intent on making a display as a pause in the battle due to the wall's transformation played itself out. "Behold the power of the Hell-King! Lord Blood favors us this day Konoha; drive back the invaders and prove your strength to the world that has dared to forget it! For Lord Blood! For Konoha!" He shouted, voice booming over what little noise there suddenly was and carrying over the rubble of buildings.

The defense suddenly turned into and offense as Vincent whirled around and began to open fire of the ninja outside the wall; his accuracy had indeed suffered, but the kickback was affecting him less. A roar of agreement came from behind him as the leaf ninja began a renewed assault, spurred on by what they saw as a miracle; ninja weren't generally ones for faith over results, but Vincent had just given them results and renewed hope before beginning the renewed assault himself.

Shouts of "For Konoha!" were sounding all around him, though Vincent could hear Blood chuckling as more than one ninja chanted his Lord's name while striking out at the invaders; with the blessed wall blocking reinforcements from getting in without extreme difficulty and having most of their chakra drained, the fight had taken a huge turn in Konoha's favor.

Smoke blew over Vincent for a brief moment as a breeze carried the remnants of the snake summon's departure across the battlefield. This was it; this was when the battle was won. Many of the Oto and Suna ninja outside the walls were starting to retreat, many of them falling soon after from the hail of bullets, kunai, and shuriken.

"Fancy meeting you here!" a familiar voice shouted from beside Vincent as he continued to open fire on the ninja below.

"Tenten? I thought you were still in the hospital or something!" Vincent shouted back, eyes not leaving his targets.

"Chakra exhaustion isn't that serious asshole! And if you ever kiss me without permission I'm kicking your ass off this wall!" The sentence was punctuated with a hail of kunai from the girl, taking out multiple enemies. Vincent decided not to question if she had killed before or if the numbness of battle was what made her so efficient.

"Warning noted!" Vincent replied, noting that the top of the wall was lined with Konoha ninja, all throwing jutsu and weaponry at the all but helpless ninja below. Vincent watched a kunai streak up towards Tenten, faster than he could react to or she could dodge. She jumped when a small sigil of Blood, floating in the air and semi-transparent, blocked the kunai from hitting her. Vincent smirked and went back to shooting. "You can thank Lord Blood for the wall; I was just the conduit for his power!"

"And the kunai deflecting shields?" someone shouted

"The more faith people put in him, the stronger his presence in the world! We stand upon ramparts that I blessed; blessed by a Hound, one of his warrior-priests! So long as we stand here and so long as your faith is unwavering he will do his best to guard you! Glory to the Hell King and Victory to Konoha!"

"Glory to the Hell King and Konoha!"

It was a chant now as they stood upon the ramparts, defending their home and paying homage to the horned deity that shielded them from what he could.

Vincent took a step back and set Mitternacht on his thigh, aiming his palm at the barrier in the distance and focusing on the image of Orochimaru he had in his mind. He flew through the incantation for the Arcane Arrow and hardly watched as it sped off, draining him of a small chunk of energy for the distance and apparent maneuvering. Whirling back around, Vincent readied his aim and opened fire yet again, his arms all but numb from all the kickback.

A minute later an explosion sounded from behind them, causing Vincent to whirl around to see a smoke could coming from the top of the arena; the barrier was gone however, and he hoped that his Arrow had helped in the fight. He desperately wanted to rush over and help, but as it stood the distance would drain him enough for him to be more of a burden than anything else.

On this wall, however, surrounded by what were quickly becoming believers in Blood's power if nothing else, he could make a difference. A surge of energy filled him and the world became a little greener as he continued his firing.

He growled in anger when yet another snake was summoned, this one bigger than the others. Vincent's reaction was instantaneous, as he had started inhaling the moment the beast appeared.

Apparently the disappearance of his Archon blood and the resulting assertion of his Dragon blood had a profound effect on his breath weapon, as the cloud of acidic miasma had transformed into a jet of acid. He felt like he still had the potential to make it gaseous instead of liquid acid, but the distance made the liquid a safer choice.

The distance also saved the wall and Konoha's ninjas from injury while the snake flailed in agony while its scales and flesh were dissolved by Vincent's potent acid; he saw a number of enemy ninja get crush by the wailing serpent before it disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

That seemed to be the final nail in the coffin as the remaining ninja fled into the woods, seeking refuge from the wild vigor of Konoha's defense.

Vincent spat the remaining acid from his mouth and took a moment to sit down and lean his back against the wall he had been using for cover, shifting awkwardly to get his wings half-way comfortable; this had been draining as all hell. Tenten slumped down a few feet away, with a few other ninja taking the momentary break as well; fighting could still be heard in the streets, but it was few and far between and the ninja weren't about to miss the chance to recuperate a bit.

"Hell of a trick. The acid." A chuunin remarked, looking at Vincent. "And thank that god of yours; quite a few kunai got blocked that would have blindsided me."

"Thank him yourself; he can probably hear everything that's said up here since I blessed it."

"Well then thank you… whoever you are. You saved our asses when you sent this guy." The chuunin laughed, slapping Vincent on the shoulder lightly. "And thanks for the speech; there were more of those Oto ninja than we thought and high moral is a helluva thing."

"That it is. And his name is Blood; he's the King of Hell, and trust me when I say that doesn't mean what you're probably thinking."

"All I'm thinking is that I didn't die today and you're the tangible reason for that." Another ninja pipped in, standing at the ready in case more ninja showed up, "If you say it was a god, I'm not going to argue."

Vincent let out a chuckled and held his amulet up, smiling a bloodsoaked smile.

"Hail to the King."

**]_'/}0{\'_[**

It seemed like most of the ninja Vincent passed were running damage control rather than fighting; putting out fires, searching through rubble for anyone who might be trapped. Vincent stopped a few times to help with the larger pieces of debris, using his inhuman strength to dig out more than a few bodies and a few survivors, who thanked him before being carried off.

Sailing over the rooftops, Vincent realized that the fighting truly hadn't been going on that long; a couple of hours at most. It had felt like an eternity when in reality the sun had barely made progress in its trek across the sky. Something about that threatened the importance of the battle in Vincent's mind, but he quelled those thoughts immediately.

He had defended his home and inspired his fellow ninja; nothing could diminish that in his eyes.

Blood had been brief in his praise, though the few words had given Vincent strength and pride; the Hound wasn't sure which was giving him the energy to travel towards the arena, but the loss of adrenaline was making his limbs feel like someone had made him wear armor made of cinderblocks and boulders. Nonetheless the Hound trudged on, stopping to help when he saw too much rubble and two few people to move it.

Eventually he stood atop the roof of the arena, looking across the gap to try and see what was going on above the Kage booth. All he could see was a group of people standing around, though they were all leaf ninja.

Fear inspired the pain and weight in his limbs to flee for a moment while Vincent ran across the roof towards the grouping, cursing the circular design of the arena in that moment.

"Vincent!" Jiraiya shouted, getting the Hound's attention as he neared. For a moment it looked as though the Sannin was going to block him, but he relented before Vincent fully neared and relaxed just a little.

"Good to see you're alive Jiraiya-sensei." Vincent greeted him, giving the man a once-over and finding few injuries.

"The same to you; good to see Blood kept his end of the deal." Jiraiya replied, eyeing Vincent's new wings and weapons.

"Did Orochimaru get away?"

"He… no, no he didn't. Konoha didn't get away unscathed though." Jiraiya moved aside, letting Vincent see Sarutobi Hiruzen lying on the ground in the center of the group. Time seemed to freeze as Vincent took a shaking step forward.

"Hey, Jiji…" Vincent started, falling to his knees beside the Kage. He almost went on to say "wake up", but stopped himself. He knew in his heart that Sarutobi was beyond hearing now. "Did he die well?"

"He died defending his home." An anbu replied; a male by the sound, and almost crying judging by the choking at the end of the sentence.

"The barrier was wearing thin when this happened; Sarutobi-sensei was a lot harder to kill than Orochimaru planned, even with his zombie summons—he somehow raised the bodies of the first and second Hokages to fight for him. In the end it was just a teacher fighting his student again; Sarutobi decided to end it in a way that was sure to kill both of them… the same technique used to seal the Kyuubi. Once he died the barrier fell and we apprehended three of the four ninja who made the barrier. The last managed to get away, most likely joining the others in retreat."

"So… Orochimaru is dead? This wasn't all for naught?" Vincent asked, using every shred of willpower not to cry.

"From what I could tell—only the user of the technique can see the Shinigami so I was guessing—Sarutobi had most of the bastard's soul out, but he was so wounded that he couldn't pull it all the way out with Orochimaru resisting. Just as he was about to give the order for the Shinigami to cut the soul and just take whatever he had, your Arrow flies out of nowhere and pegs Orochimaru in the neck. I know he's faced worse pain, but the shock was a momentary slip in his concentration that he couldn't afford."

"I…am glad I helped then." Vincent replied, smiling at his grandfather. "What of Orochimaru's body?"

"Ash. We weren't taking chances, so we cut it up and burnt it all." The leader of the assembled Anbu replied. "Now we… are paying our respects."

Vincent nodded and lowed his head, stifling tears as he clenched his fists. His arrow had made sure Orochimaru died; it made sure Sarutobi's sacrifice had permanently taken out a threat to Konoha.

"Lord Blood; please see this soul safely to his judgment, to his reward and punishment. May his time in Hell be brief for the ages he deserves in Heaven." Vincent muttered the prayer under his breath, reaching out and lightly touching Sarutobi's breastplate. It was his way of saying goodbye, he reasoned as he stood up and walked to the edge of the roof; in truth he just didn't think he could bear to look at his grandfather's body anymore.

_**I cannot change his Karma, but I will make sure that it is dealt swiftly on my end so he may go to Heaven sooner. He did quite a lot in his lifetime; it will take some time to figure out how long he must spend in each sphere.**_

"Thank you."

"Blood?" Jiraiya asked, taking a place beside Vincent. The Hound nodded, looking over Konoha. For the most part, the only damaged areas were near the walls; here and there were damaged buildings caused by jutsu from some of the enemy ninja that were already in place past the wall, but it was relatively sparse in terms of damage. "Thank you for praying for him. I'm sure he would appreciate the thought if nothing else."

"Yeah."

"Look, Vincent… when you get home, let it out. Even I'm going to be crying tonight; there's no shame in mourning." Jiraiya sighed, reaching into his pocket and fishing out a small scroll. "Sarutobi… asked me to give this to you if he died. It's everything that he never explained in full, and… a personal message to you."

Vincent took the scroll and regarded it for a moment before unraveling it and taking it all in. Jiraiya was going to caution him against opening it in public, but everyone's attention was far from the Hound reading a scroll.

"I wish I could thank him for this." Vincent said calmly, using an overly even tone to stop his throat from constricting and to block any tears from welling up. The scroll had all the details regarding Naruto's heritage as well as several little things over the years that had never been properly touched on; some were so vague and minor in his memory that Vincent was touched that Sarutobi thought to answer them in his final message to the Hound.

"I know the feeling." Jiraiya replied as the scroll was rolled back up. "Are you alright?"

"I've lost my Archonic potential and my Grandfather today; I'm sure once I've washed the blood and battle from me that both will be hitting me very hard. Right now…" Vincent sighed and shook his head, "I am numb. I can't rest right now though; I need to go back out there and help."

"You've done enough Vincent; go home and rest." Jiraiya stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, ignoring all the blood.

"My strength has increased; I can help move rubble—I saved several people on the way here doing that!" Vincent replied, knocking the hand away. "I can't… just sit here!"

It was like words were failing to convey his emotion at that point. He couldn't just go home when he could still do something to help. Jiraiya shook his head.

"You look like you're ready to drop Vincent; I can tell a lot of that blood is yours. You're not going to be helpful to anyone if you pass out with a two-ton piece of rock over your head." Jiraiya scolded, taking Vincent by the shoulder and making him turn to face him. "Go make sure Kin is alright and get some rest; if you're hell-bent on helping out then come back when you aren't covered in blood."

_**I admire the dedication, but he is right. Go home and rest; Kin is alright and I've told her to prepare for you. You've suffered a lot more damage than you think and she'll be helping to get you back to full strength.**_

"I…alright." Vincent sighed, and moved Jiraiya's hand away from him. "Look, I'm only dropping this because Lord Blood agreed with you, and I know I don't have the energy to argue with _him_."

"Well tell him thanks; I don't like watching students die because they think they're invincible."

_**S'all good.**_

"He said it's all goo—you know what, here." Vincent half-shouted, taking a spare amulet he had in his belt-pouch and shoving it into Jiraiya's hand. "You talk to him for a while; I'm going home. Ja Ne."

Jiraiya watched the hound walk off before donning the amulet to humor the Hound, jumping slightly when he heard Blood speak.

_**Sup. **_

**]_'/}0{\'_[**

The water felt amazing, and the fatigue itself was useful enough; if nothing else, it let him ignore the awkwardness of Kin having to stand in the largest of the bathrooms with him, helping him scrub the blood from his body.

"Thank you." Vincent said tiredly as he pulled his wing back; that was the last of the bloodsoaked appendages that he had. His hair decided to fall over his eyes during the shift, blocking his vision—he honestly didn't care at that point, glad to just be out of combat and back home.

"Thanks for keeping your promise." Kin replied softly, giving Vincent another once-over. It had been somewhat awkward for them to be like this—Vincent naked in the shower while Kin scrubbed the blood from places his battered muscles wouldn't let him reach—though it had faded when the necessity of the action exceeded any sort of issues either one of them had.

The changes, physically, had worried Kin at first; she thought his ears had been torn up until he explained the change. The height wasn't a huge increase, and his eyes were now a beautifully acidic emerald in color.

"Mind getting me to the onsen? I don't trust my balance right now." Vincent asked, beyond the point of caring for the fact he was naked. They had tried to put a towel around his waist, but his tail made it impossible to keep it there.

"Yeah. I'll mop up the water once we get you there; drying you off is going to be more awkward than I can handle right now." Kin remarked, having a feeling that Vincent was going to sleep in the bottom of the onsen tonight. "Do you want me to bring you a pillow so you can sleep there?"

"If we have one willing to sacrifice itself to the water, that would be amazing." Vincent replied, turning off the water and parting his hair enough to see; he was having trouble moving his arms above chest level and didn't want to tempt pain by keeping his hand up there too long or by flipping his hair and hurting his neck.

"I'm sure one will step forward for the greater good."

The walk to the Onsen was quiet, with Vincent using both the wall and Kin to keep himself steady; he was glad that the mansion seemed so big now since the halls didn't force him to pull his wings close to his body. He couldn't stretch them out by any means, nor did he want to at the time, but it was a comfortable amount of space.

"And in you go." Kin muttered as Vincent sank into the water. She heard his thanks mentally before she set off upstairs to get a pillow for him, grabbing a second on a whim and deciding to sleep on one of the dry benches tonight, in case he needed immediate attention.

She almost laughed as the pillow she threw into the onsen's waters floated, giggling a little when Vincent pulled it down and readjusted under the rippling surface of the water. It was adorable in the weirdest way.

Kin sighed and set her pillow on the bench she chose; it was under a window and was probably the least steamy part of the room. Added a few towels for padding, she gave Vincent a smile through the water before walking out of the room to make herself some dinner. The evening was still young, after all.

* * *

><p>Oh my god this was the chapter that never ended! I was going to have a second chapter after the "hail to the King" line, but I decided to just finish it up here.<p>

So… yeah. First time in a long time I've done a good fight, and a really long time since I did a large battle; give me your thoughts on both, and please don't make me state my belief that ninja battles are very short things, despite what the show and manga might say.

That aside, FORGIVE ANY GRAMMAR ISSUES! I wrote a lot of this late at night and… well… I'm not the best proofreader.

On that note, I hope you had at least a rough idea of what Mitternacht and Morgenstern look like; I have a drawing of them, but I can't really upload it because of bullshit reasons… like having lost the drawing. Now then…. You might be thinking with the word "gunblade" it's like Squall's shit from FF8. No. Bad freaky darling. Squall… has more blade than gun. These are more… well, I'd say more gun than blade, but it's more even. Still, it's like a gun WITH a blade instead of the whole fusion thing Squall had going on.

The gun portion(the "casing" I kept talking about) looks like the top part(the barrel bit, not the handle) of a Colt M1911. I had to research handguns just to give you that image, so you're welcome. Still, you have to make it a lot bigger.

Well, I hope you liked this chapter, my Darlings; I'm going back to college soon(scary soon, actually), and I don't know when the next will be out. Hopefully soon though.

Oh, and for those who want them listed, here are the spells used in this chapter:

**-Arcane Arrow:** Strike forth from the Aether, O' ye arcane arrow! Know unerring focus through time and space; hark, thine target lies before you!

**-Smite:** Know now the gaze of the Blessed Demon, O' ye child of ash and dust! Tremble, Wail, Writhe! The darkness binding thy heart undoes the world as stars burst from the skin of our mother; Unite and Disperse! The Ire of the Hound knows no limit for thy perversion under the cycle that shall ever stain the sky! Close thy eyes lest you know the void in your heart to echo throughout eternity as the final bell tolls the gatekeep's hymn! Devour! Crush! Rend! Hound of Hell I summon thy wrath!

On a small note as well:** SMITE IS INTENTIONALLY IN ENGLISH**. Or Japanese, you know what I mean. Anyway, the target has to hear and understand you for its full power to be achieved; it also channels the power of Blood as opposed to creating something from nothing, negating the need for a more potent language so long as Blood approves the smite.

Long ass Author's note too.

Stay Freaky, my Darlings 3


End file.
